Everything Eventually
by catey123
Summary: JJ and Rossi begin a relationship after she breaks up with Will. Will they make it? And what does the team do when they begin to realize something is happening between the two? Chapters 13,21,40 and especially 44 are M rated, the rest stands at a T.
1. Chapter 1

Agent Jennifer Jareau had always been pretty happy with the way her life was going. She had a job that challenged her, a wonderful son, co-workers that were a family to her. But right now, her life was just the pits, and she could blame two men for that fact.

First, in her home life, her live-in boyfriend and father of her son Henry, Will LaMontagne. More than anything in the world right now, he was driving her ballistic. When they first had decided they could make things work, he quit his job and moved to be with her, it had seemed what she had wanted to do. Then, reality set in, moreso after Henry's arrival. When it had been only weekends they'd seen each other, it had been wonderful. He'd been supportive and loving. Then, when they'd found out she was pregnant, things had shifted in their relationship. A very strong protective streak had come out in him, in fact, she'd almost died of embarrassment when he'd shown up in NY and broke the news of JJ's pregnancy to the team, because he was so worried. She'd about melted into the hotel lobby when he'd done that, and felt even worse by the evident surprise and crushed look on Hotch's face. Once she'd started back to work in the BAU after her maternity leave, things quickly plummeted in their relationship. The constant phone calls from him, wondering when she was going to be home, the little digs that made her feel like a bad mother for flying off and leaving Henry when the team had an away case, everything combined just made her feel like she was the worst mother ever.

It was the constant phone calls that led to the involvement of the grudge against the second man today, one Agent David Rossi. The phone calls from Will were taking their toll on JJ, 1000 miles away from home and the constant needling. She was starting to break under them. When she'd answered her phone for the third time that morning and it was Will once again, Rossi had made his displeasure known.

"I think you've been on the phone enough with Will this morning, JJ. Perhaps you'd like to try getting back to work? Although, if a little thing like murder means nothing to you, by all means, talk away", Rossi had ground out at her.

She'd looked with shock at the man. Since she'd come back from maternity leave, they'd gotten on well. They'd always had a vibe between them, he'd looked out for her when she'd felt the strain of the early days of leaving her son. To hear this come from him shocked her. She'd replied with "Of course, agent Rossi, I'm sorry if I'm interfering in anyway", but the two of them had sniped at each other the rest of the day.

It was so noticeable by the end of the day that Hotch had laid into both of them, telling them to get their act together, or he was pulling one of them from the assignment. He'd rather have all team members working this case, but if their anger at one another was going to interfere, then he'd take one of them off the case. He'd not specified which one he'd pull, but he'd given a meaningful look at JJ that almost made her burst into tears. She knew it would be her, and she knew it was because of the phone calls. She had to get her act together, and fast. Hotch left Rossi and her standing there, and then Rossi took off without so much as a backwards glance at her. Stunned, JJ decided to go to the hotel bar, but had taken no more than 3 steps toward there when her phone rang again, and it was Will, demanding to know if the case had wrapped up, he wanted her home ASAP. Henry needed his momma, not some stranger who was putting work before her son. JJ spat out she'd be home when the case was done, but it wasn't at this particular moment. And then, something in her snapped, and every little thing he said over the past few months, the digs, the little insults came roaring into her mind.

"Will, I don't think I can do this anymore", JJ let out.

"well, good then JJ, come home where you belong. You don't need to work anymore. Your son needs you", Will, thinking he'd gotten his way joyfully said into the phone.

"No, Will, I meant us. You and me together, we aren't good. I can't do this anymore, where you make me feel so bad for doing my job, leaving Henry. You know I'm a good mom. Why do you always try and shoot me down?", JJ softly whispered, mindful of the fact she was in the lobby of her hotel. Deciding to rectify that little fact, she'd gotten into the elevator and headed to her room, still talking with Will.

"After I gave up everything for you, come to this damn town, you don't want to be with me anymore?" Will shouted into the phone. God, it was times like this that JJ remembered she'd been so close to calling it quits just before she'd found out she was pregnant. She really wish she'd had, it would have been a lot less painful now.

"No, Will, I don't want to be with you anymore. Even you have to know that things haven't been good since I started back to work. You've resented every time I've walked out the door. You phone me constantly, reminding me I'm leaving our son and you behind. I CAN"T do this anymore", JJ practically shouted into the phone.

"Are you screwing someone on your team? Is that why you would prefer to be with them, instead of being with your OWN son? Because, I've always thought you were doing one of them. It's not like you been welcoming here at home. You've turned into an ice queen since you had the baby. And as for me not doing anything, I gave everything up for you. I left everything behind to take care of you and raise this child."

"You have got to be kidding me, Will! Why would you ever think that? They are like my family! Reid is a godfather to our child, Morgan and Hotch are like big brothers! As to preferring to be with them, I"M DOING MY JOB! And as for being an ice queen, maybe if you'd learned how to please a woman, I wouldn't feel like it was just another chore for me to do!"

JJ couldn't believe she was having a conversation like this over her phone. How had things deteriorated so much today, she was at this point? Yet, at the same time, she was feeling somewhat lighter in her chest area. She'd told him, she'd really told him. Once things had started to come out, everything poured out. It got so heated that he'd pulled the last resort, telling her she was overworked and they'd talk when she got home.

"No, Will, when I get home, my mind will not be changed. We are done. When I get home, we'll work out a custody arrangement for Henry. If you need some time, let me phone Penelope, she'll be glad to look after him. But please, be gone from my apartment when I get back. We are through" With that, Jj ended the phone conversation.

JJ sat down on the bed, can't believing the whole conversation that had happened. Picking her phone up again, she gave Penelope a quick call, telling her she may have Henry to look after at night til she got back from this trip. Garcia didn't ask any questions, just agreed quickly. She could tell from JJ's tone that now wasn't the time for questions, she'd find out later. Finally, JJ got a drink from the mini-bar, the one she'd been heading for when Will had phoned this last time. Downing the scotch quickly, the liquid burnt her throat, but she also realized she wasn't having anymore right now. She had some fences to mend, and figured there was no time like the present to get out there and do so.


	2. Chapter 2

Knocking on Hotch's door, JJ nervously fiddled with her keycard. She heard him call out "just a second" and waited patiently. About 30 seconds later, Hotch opened the door, and looked surprised to see JJ standing there.

"come in JJ, what's up? I'm sorry I had to come down hard on you and Rossi earlier, but we have jobs to do. Our personal lives cannot get in the way out here." Hotch told her, not unkindly.

"Hotch, I came to apologize. I'm sorry, and I'm here to assure you that this won't happen anymore. In fact, the phone calls should be at an end. I broke up with Will. He's not happy, but then, I haven't been for awhile. I'll be there in the morning, and I will be on my best behavior. Rossi was right, I had a job to do." JJ surprised herself by admitting that, considering she'd wanted to throttle Rossi for his comments earlier. She'd been hurt more than she realized by the cutting comment, and anger briefly welled up in her again.

"It's okay, JJ. I know you mean what you say. I know I was no picnic to work with when Hayley and I had our split. Every one is allowed some leeway. Just as long as you can focus on the job at hand now, I see no problem." Hotch, being considerate, let her know that way that there would be no repercussions on the job tomorrow, things were back on track.

"Thanks Hotch. I won't let you down. I have to head over to Rossi now. As much as I hate to admit it, he was right, and I need to do another apology. I also have to phone Garcia later, find out if she has Henry yet. Will was pretty angry with me. I just want to make sure he's safe for the night."

"Well, you do what you have to JJ. I'll see you in the morning then." Hotch didn't question why Henry would be at Garcia's but figured the breakup had been pretty brutal. He thought JJ was holding up well, probably the reality hadn't hit her yet. But he'd be there for support when the time came. Holding the door open for her, he headed out also, intending to grab a late supper.

"Do you want to go catch a bite to eat? " he asked her.

"No, Hotch, you go ahead. I have another apology to make. I don't think it's going to go quite as well as my apology to you. Rossi was supremely pissed with me today." JJ grimaced, think of the angry agent from this morning.

Hotch let out a laugh, then commented "if you think you're personal problems were let out, you should have seen Dave when he was breaking up with his second wife. She was as bad as Will for phone calls, accusing him of screwing every female agent on the team." Startled, JJ looked at Hotch, almost blushing, as she'd been accused of virtually the same thing by Will.

"Well, I don't think I'll bring that up with him, but I am going to apologize. I want to make sure we are good. No more problems on the job", JJ smiled at Hotch.

"Well, good luck then, JJ. See you at breakfast then" Hotch took his leave of her, and JJ headed up in the elevator. Somehow, Rossi had gotten a room on a different floor then the rest of them, so she figured she might as well get this over with too. She got out on his floor, walking toward his room. Little did she know the change that was going to happen next, never once expecting how the rest of her evening was going to go.


	3. Chapter 3

JJ knocked tentatively on Rossi's door, more nervous then she'd felt when she'd knocked on Hotch's door. While any feelings for Hotch were brotherly, she'd always had a small attraction to Rossi. She knew he'd been checking her out since he'd started working at the BAU again, but when her relationship with Will had been revealed and her pregnancy shortly there after, he'd backed off. No comments, nothing but being a helpful, stand up guy. Since she'd come back from maternity leave, there were small moments of light flirting, which had actually cheered her considerably. Will had made her feel bad for leaving their son, and the ice queen comment was the least of it, he'd tormented her about not losing the baby weight. That was one reason for her lack of interest in the physical side of their relationship. Rossi however, commented that motherhood suited her, calling her lovely. Nothing heavy though, just little things that made her day. But when her relationship with Will had started going south, her job had suffered too. And Rossi had not enjoyed that little fact. And here she was, going to apologize to him for letting her personal life get in the way.

After what seemed an eternity, the door to Rossi's room swung open. His brown eyes met hers, showing obvious surprise that she was standing at his door.

"Can I come in?" JJ asked as politely as she could, trying not to let her nervousness show.

"Of course, JJ." Rossi didn't sound angry anymore, just drained. He stepped back, and JJ walked in.

" Do you want a drink? I have plenty of the good stuff here, I always bring my own.", he offered her.

"sure, Dave, that would be good. " JJ sat down on the couch in Dave's room, looking around. Somehow, Rossi had scored a room that was much nicer then her own. More of a suite type, it was more luxurious then the rest of theirs.

Rossi brought over the drinks and joined her on the couch. Taking a sip of the scotch, JJ decided that she might as well start.

"Dave, I'm here to apologize for earlier. I shouldn't have answered the phone , I shouldn't have. I always think something is wrong with Henry, but all it ever is is Will telling me I need to come home. I wasn't doing my job." JJ came out and said.

"However, my only wish is that you had taken me aside privately to tell me. It hurt a lot for you to do it in front of the team, but I am sorry. And I'm here to assure you, there will be no more calls. I took care of that problem tonight"

Rossi looked at JJ, surprise written on his face. JJ had come to apologize to _him_, when he felt like he should be apologizing to her for the same thing. "Actually, JJ, you are right. My annoyance came through this morning. It's hard not to notice the effects of those calls are having on you. And I hate seeing you being hurt by someone you love. I should have talked to you privately. You are absolutely right on that point."

JJ looked at him, surprised that the great David Rossi was apologizing to her.

"So, are we good then? I already promised Hotch that I will be nothing but 100% professional tomorrow. We are here to do a job, and in no way will my personal life interfere again" JJ smiled at Dave, hoping that this was over. She really did want to get back to work. When he smiled at her, she figured everything was back to normal.

" Yeah, we're good" , he smiled at her, his eyes seeming to twinkle now.

With that smile, JJ decided to let him know that the reason the calls were going to stop was because of her breakup with Will. When she told him that bit of news, he didn't look surprised.

" You know, I've seen it a long time coming, JJ. The man should never have made you feel so bad for doing your job. Using your child against you to try and get his way. That is one of the reasons I was so angry this morning. He's been doing everything to strip you of your self-esteem. No man should ever do that. Henry is a wonderful child, he loves his mama very much. You've been doing the best you could, and the team respects and loves you. We know how hard it is to be away from your son. I can only hope that you realize none of what Will has said is true." Rossi looked intently at her, hoping to boost her self-confidence somewhat.

"He didn't take the breakup well. In fact, when he phoned, I didn't even intend to break up with him. He started in on me again, accusing me of sleeping with someone on the team and that's why I didn't want to come home. He thought I was giving up the job to come home. And when I told him I couldn't do this anymore, he never thought it was anything about him. I just blurted out that we were through."

Dave eyed her, not believing what he was hearing. JJ being accused of cheating, now that was something. How anyone could believe she'd do that, didn't know her at all, least of all the man she'd been with for over 2 years.

Getting up off of the couch suddenly, JJ thought it was time to leave. She'd told Rossi more than she intended to, especially the little fact about cheating. Dave stood up to follow her, as she prepared to leave. He stopped her near the door and turned her to face him.

" I want you to know, Jen, if you ever need to talk, come find me. I'm here for you. Anytime."

That was the last thing she'd expected from Dave, but it shouldn't have surprised her. He'd been protective of her since she'd come back to work, and she felt a spark of happiness that he wanted to be there for her. He suddenly drew her into a hug, intended as a goodbye. As they held onto one another, something shifted for both of them. They both tightened the embrace, then drew back from one another. Looking each other in the eye, both breathing heavier then before, they suddenly crashed together, kissing as if they could not get enough.

JJ thought to herself, "Oh, my god, I can't believe I'm doing this! What the hell am I doing?", yet, she did not draw back from the kiss or the embrace. She wrapped her arms tighter around him, her hands snaking through his hair.

As for Dave, he let his hands do the wandering. He'd been wanting to do this for so long, he couldn't believe that she was in his arms now, apparently enjoying the fact that their mouths were exploring one another. Caught up in the moment, he suddenly hitched Jen up, her legs going around his waist, pulling each other closer. She wasn't objecting, so he decided to go for broke, kissing the skin around her neck, feathering her collarbone with tiny strokes of his tongue. He heard her moan, and recaptured her mouth, making his claim for it.

For her part, Jen tightened her grip on his waist with her legs. He obviously was aroused by her, she had evidence of that fact. She felt a shock go through her body, unbelieving that this was happening. And she didn't want to say no, she wanted him as much as he did her. Somehow, he'd started work on her blouse, the buttons coming undone one at a time, him skillfully taking her shirt off while at the same time never breaking with kissing. Hurriedly, she worked on the buttons of his shirt, not wanting to be the only one partially naked. She let her legs relax their grip on his waist, standing for a moment as she started working on his belt buckle. She looked at him, surprised by her boldness. He looked damn fine for his age, her knees weak at the sight of him. She finally succeeded in undoing his belt, working on the zipper. For his part, he started on her skirt, unzipping it til it fell on the floor of the room. Reclaiming his territory, he hitched her up against his waist again, loving the feel of those legs around him. With nothing but a few thin wisps of material, he made short work of them too, thanking his lucky stars she'd worn a front clasp bra. He bent down to kiss her, his beard and mustache tickling her sensitive skin. The skin on skin feel finally broke her, she wanted more and wanted it now. Maneuvering their way to the bed, he gave her one last chance to back out, before this became more than they'd ever expected today. She declined the chance of escape, not wanting to be anywhere but near this man, to feel him, to be with him. And with that, they joined, both wanting to be exactly where they were.

Afterwards, they lay cuddled on the bed, him dozing, her laying on her side watching him sleep. JJ thought he looked so much younger in sleep, the cares and worries gone for a little while. She snuggled into him more, not wanting this evening to end. She was the happiest she'd been for a long time. She drew lazy lines on his bare skin, and this woke him up. He looked at her, smiling, capturing her hand and bringing it to his lips.

"Jen, when we get back to Quantico, I don't want this to end. I've wanted this for more time then I care to remember. And I'm not prepared to give it up." he said as he began stroking her side up and down, loving the feel of this woman next to him.

"I don't actually know what to do. If we go back now, and I immediately start a relationship with you, Will is going to think he's right, that I was cheating on him. If we are going to be together, I just want us to know for now. And for this to happen, it's going to involve Henry."

"JJ, I have no problem with that. I know things are going to be hard when we get home. No pressure, we'll go at your pace. I just love the fact that we are together right now", reaching in to capture her lips with his.

JJ moved against him, ready for round 2 of the night to begin again. She couldn't wait to begin again, and the thought that the right man could bring this out of her made her chuckle.

He stopped kissing her, looking at her puzzled. "what's so funny?" he whispered to her.

"oh, when I was breaking up with Will he told me I was an Ice Queen, that's all. I just find it very funny, I don't think I'm at all icy at this particular time" she chuckled. "In fact, I'm just burning right now" she said.

"I think I can take care of that, my dear, we wouldn't want you to overheat" he growled, working his magic on her again. Pretty soon, both were caught up again, the rest of the world forgotten once again.


	4. Chapter 4

JJ awoke with a start, the clap of thunder disturbing her slumber. Disoriented for a minute, forgetting where she was, she felt panic well up within her. Then, hearing the shallow breathing of the body beside her, everything came flooding back. The panic left her as she remembered exactly where she was and what she'd been doing. She slowly climbed out of the bed, grabbing Dave's shirt and putting it on. She settled on the couch, watching the storm pass by. Her thoughts got the better of her. What WAS she doing? She'd just broken up with Will last night. She'd been fighting with the man that now slept in the room, now she'd been with him, in a very unprofessional manner. That was the least of her worries. Fraternization policies being what they were, she wasn't sure how to navigate around that. Then, she wasn't so sure what to do. Jumping from one relationship to another? Everything was going so fast again. She was greatly attracted to Dave, that was for sure, they'd proven it in a lot of ways last night. Doubt filled her mind. Dave said he didn't want to end it, he wanted to continue once they got back home, but how? She was sure that Will would make her life a living hell if he found out about her and Dave. He'd already accused her of sleeping with someone on the team, he'd never believe that anything had started after she'd broken up with him. And her son, he wasn't old enough to understand much of anything yet, but she knew the breakup would affect him, none the less.

She couldn't shrug off the niggling doubt welling up in her. She thought back to when she had originally had decided to break up with Will. She'd been scared to let him go, and scared to stay with him. She chose to stay because she was tired of running away, but she should have followed her first instincts, considering the end result was the same. Only difference was, she now had a child and a tie with Will forever. Shaking her head, she thought maybe she she should get back to her room. She really didn't want to be found in Rossi's room come morning, and she realized she hadn't phoned Penelope to see how Henry was.

Grabbing her purse, she fished her phone out to check for messages. She'd put it to silent earlier, and a quick view seen that Will had phoned 3 times again since she'd broke up with him. Garcia had sent her a text, letting her know she had Henry and he was being a perfect angel. She also said they needed to have a long talk when JJ got back to Quantico, she wanted details.

Sighing, thinking of two options, one being going back to her room now and spending the rest of the night tossing and turning, or two, climbing back into bed and settling in with Dave, she opted to climb back in next to Dave. When she slipped between the covers, he pulled her to him.

"What's wrong, babe?" he asked in a hush tone.

"I was just thinking, Dave. This has happened so fast, we need to talk about a lot of things. I can't believe I just ended a relationship, and now, I'm here with you." she whispered.

"I told you earlier, Jen, I'm here. I want this relationship with you. I'm not the rebound guy, I'm not going to disappear. This isn't a one night stand as far as I'm concerned." he stated.

"I know, Dave, I know. But I've always had a hard time with relationships. In fact, I was breaking up with Will, then I got scared and held on to him. Then, I found out I was pregnant, and everything just snowballed. You never really know someone til you live with them, and boy, did I get it in spades once he moved up to Quantico full time." she snuggled against Dave as she told her story. She decided to let it all out, trusting him.

"When he showed up in NY, on the terrorist case, I was shocked. I never knew how protective he could be. I was trying to keep my personal and work life separate, and he just blurted out the news of my pregnancy to the whole team, because he was scared of me doing my job. And it's just gotten worse. He was fine when I was on maternity leave, but once I started back, it just became way too much. He was making me choose between him and my job. And I realized, I didn't love him enough when the job won" she confessed.

Dave didn't know what to say, so he just pulled her closer to him, kissing the top of her head.

"Dave, I want this to work between you and me. I know this is way too serious to be discussing now, it's not like Bam, we have sex and now we'll have a white picket fence existance. I know you don't do that. And it's a little too late to take it slow, considering the amount of times we've done this tonight. But I want to try. And I know we have a lot going against us. But if you are willing to try, so am I. I just ask that we do not let anyone know yet. Tomorrow, we are strictly about the job. And when we get back, I know I'm going to be having trouble with Will, so for awhile, at least, we are going to have to keep things very quiet." She hated saying that to him, but she knew Will and she realized how things could go.

"Whatever you say, JJ. At this point, I'm willing to do anything. I stood back and watched you with him. And if he was stupid enough to drive you away, then I'm not standing back anymore. As far as I'm concerned, we're together now. And if you want it kept between us, I'm fine. But someday, I will announce it to the world. So you better be prepared for it." he told her outright.

Sighing, JJ realized that it was all or nothing with this man. And for some reason, that made her feel extremely wanted and needed.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N **I just wanted to give a big thanks to Tracia here. She's been my cheerleading, urging me on to write this story. Thanks for the reviews, I appreciate them, knowing you are keeping reading. And thanks to everyone for reading this story!

The plane touched down, the team had headed home after the case had finally wrapped up that afternoon. JJ was anxious to get to her child, make sure he was okay, but at the same time, the reality of coming home was saddening. Since their night together, Rossi and her had kept their distance from one another, behaving professionally, hoping that no one thought their behavior was odd. Rossi was playing by JJ's rules, no one would know they were together for now. And as much as she would like to continue things and talk with Rossi now, she also just wanted to get her hands on her child that she hadn't seen in 4 days. Taking her leave of the team, saying her goodbyes, JJ headed to Garcia's place. She knew that Penelope was at home with her child and she knew she was going to have to explain at least some of what was going on to her. She'd skip the part about Dave and her being together, though. That was no one's business but hers and his for now.

Arriving home with Henry, she'd figured she'd gotten off easy from Penelope's questioning. She'd told her that she'd done the breaking up with Will, that she just didn't love him anymore. Seeing how tired that JJ had looked, Penelope had let her get away, but wanted more from her when she felt like talking more. JJ promised and had gathered her son, offered her thanks and headed out the door. Letting herself into the apartment, she was shocked by the mess in there. When Will had been leaving, he hadn't cared how he left things. It was a mess, and she figured she'd be cleaning for at least part of the night. Getting Henry changed for bed and settled came first though. She cuddled her son, delighting in just holding him. She'd missed him like crazy the last few days. It did bother her that she flew off on trips like she did, but she tried to make things special for him when she got home. Her son would always know she loved him, and that he did come first.

JJ had just settled him in his crib when she heard a knock at her door. Tensing, expecting it to be Will, she looked through the peephole, and was surprised to see Dave standing there instead. She opened the door to let him in.

"What are you doing here, Dave? I thought you'd be in Little Creek by now." she commented.

"I wanted to talk to you, JJ, before I headed home. Things happened so fast in Colorado, everything wrapped up, I didn't have a chance to talk to you again."

She moved to let him enter the apartment. She didn't want to stand in the hallway discussing this. He surveyed the apartment, knowing from the looks of it that Will hadn't taken leaving very well.

"Have you heard anymore from Will? Was he here when you got home?" questioning her gently.

"He left some calls on my cell, but I haven't returned his calls. And the apartment was a mess when I got home. But I hadn't seen Henry in 4 days, so I spent the evening with him. I can clean now, I was just about to when you knocked on my door.", she said chuckling.

"I'll give you a hand. It won't take long with two of us doing the work", Rossi offered.

"The Great David Rossi doing housework? I must be dreaming!" she smiled at him when she said this.

"Well, yeah, it's not my forte, but you know I hate disorganization. I'll gladly help you, if it means things will get done faster." he joked back to her.

Working together, things were straightened up in no time. JJ went to make some coffee, needing something to keep going awhile longer. Dave sat on the couch, flipping through channels on the tv, waiting for her return.

Finally, she set a cup of coffee in front of him, and settled down beside him. Surprising herself, she snuggled up against him. He put his arm around her, pulling her closer.

"Dave, I'm glad you came over. I wasn't expecting it, but it's nice you are here." she closed her eyes for a few minutes, just enjoying the cuddling.

"JJ, I just want you to know that I mean I'm here for the long haul. I didn't want to go home without telling you, and I didn't want to say it over the phone."

She looked at Dave then, seeing something in his eyes that told her he meant every word he said.

"I know Dave, I know. And I mean it, I'm not going anywhere either. I just don't know how to fit everything in right now. I want to shout it to the world that we are together, but I know it would be disastrous at this point. Will accused me of sleeping with someone on the team,that that was why I wanted to be with the BAU and not home here. And if we say we are together right now, right after I've broken up with him, I'm afraid he'll use it to take Henry. I don't think this break up is going to be easy, and I think he will use anything he thinks he has to get back at me. So, I'm not going to say this to upset you, but I don't think you can come here again. If you show up at my door all the time, he's going to know.", she told him disheartedly.

"JJ, I don't give a damn whether he knows or not. However, you are probably right. And I will not jeopardize custody of your son. That's why I wanted to ask you if you and Henry would come out to Little Creek this weekend. It will give us a chance to get to know one another better, and get you away from here for a few days. What do you say?" he asked hopefully.

Hearing the hopefulness in Dave's voice, JJ couldn't say no.

"As long as you realize we are on Henry's schedule, Dave. If he needs his mama, he's going to come first. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is" she sighed, but wasn't unkind in her tone.

"Hon, that is the least of my worries. Just having you under my roof, without having to act as if we mean nothing to one another, I will do anything for that. And you know, I do realize Henry's needs come first. I wouldn't have it any other way, sweetheart."

JJ was not surprised at his answer. She just wished she realized what a terrific guy Dave was before she'd gotten so deeply involved with Will. She'd always known that there was an attraction between them, but had put it initially off to Dave's apparent ability to want anything in a skirt. It wasn't til they'd worked together longer that she realized how truly a great guy he was. And by then, it was too late, she was pregnant with Henry, and she'd really tried to make a go of it. Holding on to what she thought was the right thing to do, but not what her heart wanted, she'd died a little bit every day. And now, this man in front of her, she felt her heart starting to reach out again, happiness radiating through her.

"Fine, Dave, I'll come after work on Friday night. Be prepared, Henry will give you a real workout this weekend. Just so you know!" she agreed happily.

With that, Dave leaned in for another kiss, before saying his goodnight to JJ. With the weekend to look forward too, he left her apartment a much happier man than when he'd arrived.


	6. Chapter 6

JJ had a busy morning, getting things ready for work. She had a lot to do today, they had to write up the case they'd just completed, and she knew she had a full day of work ahead of her. She had loaded the car and came back in to take Henry out, ready for to take him as part of her routine now. She'd almost made it out the door, when she heard a knock. Peeking out, she seen it was Will. Sighing, she opened the door, not standing back to let him in.

"Hi Will", she said in what she hoped was a calm tone.

"JJ, aren't you going to let me in? We have some things to talk about."

"I'm running late for work, Will. Henry and I were just leaving, and I don't have time right now."

"You see, JJ, that's always been the problem. You never have time. Always having to run off to work, leaving us behind." he commented, giving JJ that look that told her she needed to get out of there, or this was going to be an hour long diatribe about her work.

"Well, Will, it's called earning an income. I have to work to support my son. And you aren't going to make me late. If you want to talk later, discuss some kind of visitation schedule, come by tonight. I'll give you a call when I'm headed for home, we can talk then.", JJ compromised, just wanting him out of here.

Surprisingly, Will agreed to it, which surprised the heck out of JJ. Picking up his son to give him a kiss, Will said goodbye to both of them. It was things like that that made JJ see the old Will, the one who didn't complain all the time, the one she had fallen in love with. Placing Henry into his car seat, she grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

Arriving at the FBI daycare, she deposited her son, kissing him goodbye. She headed up to the BAU, determined to get to work. Stopping for coffee first, she ran into Emily Prentiss, who had arrived shortly before her. Smiling and chatting as they got their coffee, JJ was in an extraordinarily good mood. Emily eyed her suspiciously, because she knew JJ usually needed at least 2 cups of coffee in the morning to get to this level of goodness. JJ headed to her office, Prentiss took a seat at her desk, eying the closed door of the media liason. Derek Morgan arrived shortly thereafter, and Emily decided to ask him if he knew anything.

"What's up with Miss Mary Sunshine in there? It's like she's been taken over by something! She's quite happy and smiling today, it's been a long time since we've seen JJ like this. What did I miss? What happened with her?" Emily questioned the just arrived agent.

Derek chuckled, setting his stuff down before heading to get his morning cup of coffee. Coming back and settling in, he leaned forward to talk to Emily.

"I have it on good authority that JJ broke up with Will. That might explain the good mood and cheerfulness." he told her.

"Really? Wow, I can't believe that. She's so happy about it. How did I not notice she was having problems with Will?" Emily pouted.

"Um, don't you remember all the phone calls while we were on this case? Rossi sniping at her, and Hotch laying into both of them? What kind of profiler are you?" Morgan laughed.

Throwing a pen at him, Emily just snorted. "Well, ditching your baby daddy doesn't account for it all. JJ's remarkably happy given the fact she kicked her man out. Something else is up, and I for one, will find out what it is."

"Prentiss, just leave it alone for now. The woman is the most relaxed we've seen since she had Henry. Just let her enjoy herself for now."

Just then, David Rossi arrived in the BAU. The two agents kept up their line of talk though, saying to Rossi that their media liason appeared to be in a terrific mood, and wondered why, give how miserable she'd been in the past few months.

Rossi chuckled to himself, thinking he just may have had a little to do with JJ's improved mood, but instead he played along.

"I don't know, I just know she broke up with Will, that's about it. I was always happy after my breakups with my ex. You'd be surprised how much better you feel when you aren't being told on a continual basis what a bad person you are for doing your job." he told them.

Morgan and Prentiss stared at him, wondering how he'd gotten that piece of information. Morgan spoke first "You mean to say that Will was telling her she was a bad mom? Is that what you are getting at?"

"Something along those lines. All those phone calls that I finally got upset about, it was him telling her to come home, that the job was making her a bad mom for being away from Henry."

Prentiss spoke next. "How long was that going on? Why would he do that to her?"

Rossi let out a sigh, he wasn't going to tell anything else, so he simply stated "It's not my place to say anymore. I guess JJ just snapped while we were in Colorado and told him enough was enough. Any other details, you are going to have to go to her for."

Taking his leave of the two agents, Rossi entered his office and settled in. Thinking of the blonde beauty in the nearby office, he thought that maybe he would go over and find out why she was in such a good mood today, hoping he might have something to do with it. First though, he had some work to do, and as much as he would like to question JJ, he thought he should get some stuff done first. When it came to her, he knew she wouldn't appreciate any deviation from the normal, because he'd been told that things were to be quiet between the two of them.

As he sat there, he also realized that look in Prentiss' eye when they'd been chatting. Prentiss was not convinced it was just the breakup making JJ happy, and he had a feeling that JJ was going to be questioned and prodded by the dark-haired profiler. At least he could give her a heads up on that, and decided to call JJ to his office to chat. He got up to look down on the team, first though, to see where they were. Seeing Prentiss wasn't down there, and that Morgan was on the phone, he closed his blinds, then he picked up the phone. If nothing else, at least maybe he could figure out why she was in such a good mood on this particular day.


	7. Chapter 7

JJ entered Rossi's office, wondering what was up. She was in an incredibly good mood, considering Will had shown up at her door this morning, but she couldn't help it. She just felt relieved, the tension of the last few months having somewhat disappeared. She just couldn't help it, and it didn't hurt that she got to work beside at least part of the reason she was in a good mood. Seeing him sitting at his desk, a smile lit up her face. Even though she'd just seen him last night, the sight of him still made her happy, just glad to see his face. Dave looked up at her, watching as she turned to close the door behind her. Now, that was a sight he could get used to seeing all the time. JJ settled in the chair across the desk from Dave, wondering what it was he wanted to discuss.

Dave started speaking "Sweetheart, you are in some great mood today, apparently."

"Is it a crime to be in a good mood, Dave? I just feel really great today." JJ commented to him.

"No, it's not a crime, but when you haven't been in a great mood at work lately, and you work with a bunch of profilers, they do realize that something is up. And I think Emily is intending to grill you to find out what exactly why you are in such a good mood today."

"What, I just broke up with my boyfriend, that's reason enough for a good mood. Why does it have to be anything else? And how does Prentiss know anyway?"

"Well, from what I gather, Derek has sources, meaning Garcia told him. He told Emily about your breakup with Will, and she won't believe that's the only reason for your "Mary Sunshine" mood, as she put it.", Dave laughed.

"Crap. When Emily gets on to something, she will not let it go. She's like a dog with a bone." JJ sighed.

"Well, she won't be hearing it from me, babe. You don't have to worry about that. I just wanted to give you a heads up, that's all. Know what you are up against, because you are facing a determined woman out there." Dave found this all amusing, for some reason.

JJ looked at Dave and seen how amused he was by all this. In spite of feeling worried about Emily's prying, she let out a grin. "Well, let's keep this a secret between us, shall we? If Emily is determined to discover something, I think I will have a little bit of fun with this."

"Well, if you need any help, let me know. I'm always up for a bit of fun, you know that", he grinned wickedly at her.

"Your idea of fun and what I'm going to do to Emily are two different things, Dave. Although, keep that in mind, I may need a bit of "fun" this weekend", JJ grinned at him.

"I like the way you think, keep that in mind this weekend" Dave said as he stood up.

As they made their way to the door, Rossi suddenly grabbed her by the waist, pulling her in for a quick kiss. She didn't struggle, in fact, she pulled in closer to him, reveling in the feel of his lips on hers.

"You are a very bad man, David Rossi!" she said stepping back from him. "Here I am, trying to keep it quiet, and you plant one on me here!" she teased him.

"Well, it's not like you resisted, babe. You weren't exactly shoving me away." Dave chuckled.

"Yeah, it's hard not to be in a good mood though when you do things like that. It leads to other thoughts, other things I'd like to do. And it ain't happening anytime soon around here. That is going to have to wait til this weekend. And if I go out of here looking flushed like this, Emily will know something is up." she said as she gave him a quick hug.

"I've got to get back to work, Dave. Do you want to meet for lunch? I'm going down to get Henry, we could have a quick lunch at that little diner I go to. Nothing wrong with co-workers having lunch together", she asked hopefully.

"I'm there. Let me know when you are ready, we'll go. And if you really want to have some fun, invite Garcia and Prentiss. I think you could have a hell of a time messing with both of them"

"I'll let you know, Dave. See you later. And thanks for the heads up." JJ departed then.

Entering the outer office, JJ seen Emily watching her. Holding her case file close to her, she made her way to her own office, feeling eyes follow her the whole way back. Yes, this could be a lot of fun, messing with Emily. But what to do to throw Emily off the trail of Dave and hers budding romance? It's not that she wanted to hide, but felt no choice. And then she realized she hadn't told Dave of Will showing up at her door this morning. She'd tell him at lunch, along with Garcia and Prentiss. He couldn't do much about it then, and since it apparently was common knowledge that she'd broken up with Will, it wouldn't hurt to see if one of the girls wanted to be at the apartment when Will would be there tonight. She wasn't entirely comfortable with him there. Plus, if Dave decided to interfere, the presence of one the girls at the apartment would throw Will off of anything between her and Dave. Will would think it was just JJ's BAU friends gathering around, protecting her from him. Things were working out much better today, increasing her good mood. Depositing the case file on her desk, she turned around and went back out, heading to Emily's desk.

"Emily, would you like to go to lunch today? I'm just not in the mood for the cafeteria today. We'll take Henry from the daycare and go. I'm going to see if Garcia would like to go too." she asked cheerfully.

Taken off-guard, Emily mutely nodded. Then recovering her senses, Emily spoke out "Uhm, sure, JJ, I'd love to. I haven't seen Henry in a bit, I'd love to get my hands on that little boy. Do you want to see if anyone else would like to go with us? I know we spend a lot of time together, but this would just be relaxing time, not BAU stuff."

"Sure, Em, I'll see if anyone else wants to go. I'll ask Garcia and Rossi, you see about Morgan and Reid. It's too nice a day to spend cooped up in this office." this was going way better than she'd expected. JJ went on her merry way, off to find Garcia and get her in on lunch too.


	8. Chapter 8

**a/n Thanks to everyone who's reading, you all keep me going! I appreciate it! As usual, I don't own the show, if I did, this pairing would be taking place now!**

Lunch was a whole lot of fun for JJ. Only Morgan had been able to join them, Hotch and Reid had a meeting they'd had to attend, but the 5 of them managed to have a fairly decent time. They were about halfway through lunch when Emily started questioning JJ about the breakup. Keeping it short and to the point, JJ simply said that Will and her had different ideas about being together, and she was tired of being forced to chose. It was better to be happy being apart, then to be miserable staying together for the sake of Henry. Emily wouldn't leave it at that though, she wanted to know if splitting up really did put JJ into as good a mood as she'd been this morning.

JJ laughed when she answered, "Well, if you felt like a 100 lb weight had been lifted from your chest, you'd feel pretty good too, Emily. I can't tell you how much better I feel. I don't know why, I thought that Will was the one, but honestly, he changed so much after Henry arrived. Don't you remember how he announced to you all that I was expecting? Multiply that by 100 fold. Every day after I came back to work, it was like I had to make a sacrifice. The fact is, I couldn't live like that anymore. And yes, I do feel happy. And that's that, Emily. "

"Well, JJ, if you say that's it, that's it. It's good to see the old JJ, that's for sure." Emily smiled.

"Well, I hardly think I was "Mary Sunshine" before this all started, but if you really think I deserve to be called that, well, just call me Mary then, Emily", JJ laughed.

Put on the spot, Prentiss turned about 3 shades of red and sputtered out, "who told you I called you that?", giving Morgan a dirty look, thinking he was the culprit.

Morgan held his hands up in protest, "Sorry, Em, not me. Turn your dagger eyes elsewhere, I'm innocent in this case!"

Turning to Rossi next, he held up his hands and commented "Yes, I'm your guilty party here. I made the mistake of calling her that in the office and she demanded to know where I picked up that little gem. I couldn't lie to her. I laid it all on you, Emily", Dave laughed as he confessed.

"I didn't mean anything by it, JJ. It's just you've been a bear before you've gotten your caffeine into you in the mornings. I can't take so much happiness first thing. I also didn't think a breakup could cause such happiness. Apparently I was wrong" Emily held her hands up in protest.

"I'll let you off the hook this time, Em. But I have to say, you've never seen how happy I really can be. If you think this is annoying, you wait. I promise you, it can get worse", JJ laughed.

"I'll take your word for it, JJ. I think I'm allergic to that much sunshine!", Emily finally relaxed and played along.

JJ then turned her attention on to Garcia. "Penelope, how did Derek know about my breakup with Will?" she asked sweetly.

Startled, the quirky lab tech also blushed, knowing that JJ knew she'd told Derek. "I'm sorry, hun, I was tired this morning, my little godson here had kept me up the other night, and it's catching up on me. Derek was there when I mentioned how tired I was and I didn't know how you did it all the time. Then he questioned me as to why Will wasn't looking after him. Plus, you know I can't keep anything from this man."

Busted, Derek got his turn in JJ's glare, "I'm sorry, JJ, I am! But when my angel here is looking as tired as she was, I have to question her! I have to know if I've got competition for her affections!" he laughed.

"Aww, Derek, you know you are always first in my life!" Penelope laughed.

Now that everything was out in the open, everyone relaxed a little more, enjoying their time together. Eventually, though, it was almost time to get back to work. Everyone quickly finished their lunches, and still with a little time before they headed back to headquarters. Penelope picked Henry out of his highchair, cooing over her godchild. She quickly looked at JJ and asked how things had been going with Will, if there had been any problems since she'd arrived home.

JJ figured this was as good a time as any to ask for a little protection in the upcoming meeting with her ex."Well, would anyone like to come over to my place tonight? Will wants to come over tonight to discuss a custody arrangement about Henry, but I have to say, I'm not looking forward to it. He showed up at my door this morning, wanting to talk. I just have a bad feeling about all this. Will does not give up easy, and I think he's going to use it as an opportunity to try and convince me to come back. And when I say no for the umpteenth time, I really don't think he's going to take it all that well"

Rossi had quickly brought his head up when JJ mentioned that Will had shown up this morning. Before anyone else answered, he said "I'll be there, JJ. It's no problem." He left his comment at that, but knew that he would question her later.

"I'll be there too, JJ." Emily quickly said, then decided to ask another question. "If he showed up at your place this morning, why were you in such a good mood? I would have thought it would have put you in a worse mood."

"Well, actually, Em, knowing I didn't have to live with that anymore put me in a terrific mood. Realizing what I left behind, well, it has a way of putting things into perspective. And coming to work, well, yes, it's a tough job, but I love you all, and I am happy here." JJ hoped that put an end to anymore questioning along those lines from Emily.

Penelope chimed in next "I'll be there Sugar. He does anything to upset you and I'll make all his records disappear into cyberspace. He pulls anything, he'll live to regret it."

Morgan commented that he had a date, but if they needed any backup, he was only a phone call away.

At that, they stood up and gathered their stuff, needing to get back to the job at hand. The afternoon was actually going quite quickly, nothing major had come up, so it was a fairly quiet afternoon.

JJ thought she'd escaped any further questioning from Rossi, when the phone in her office rang.

"JJ, do you think you could bring the press release for the Ryan case to my office? We need to go over it one more time before tomorrow. Do you have time right now?" Dave asked.

"Sure Dave, give me a couple of minutes, I'll be right there." JJ answered, knowing that they would not be going over the press release. They'd both signed off on it earlier, and she didn't think it needed to be redone. Regardless, she took it with her when she went..

Arriving at Rossi's door, she knocked and walked in. Dave was sitting at his desk, with a look in his eyes that told her they were going to be having a chat. Shutting the door behind her, she walked further into his office, feeling like she was being called on the carpet.

"JJ, when were you going to tell me he showed up this morning? I don't like that." he ground out.

"Well, Dave, you might not like it, but it wasn't high on my list of favorite things either. I compromised with him to get him out of the apartment this morning, that's why he's coming over tonight. Whether I like it or not, Henry is his son. I won't deny him access to him, we have to work it out. However, I don't want to be alone with him, that's why I asked you all to come over." she confessed.

"Besides, this gives you an excuse to be at the apartment, and he can't accuse me of anything. Not unless he thinks I'm having four ways with you, Garcia and Emily." she tried joking with him.

Not happy, but not wanting to make a bigger issue of it at work with JJ, he decided to joke back to her."Well, that's a mental image I didn't want in my head. I don't think I could survive something like that, my stamina isn't as strong as it used to be. Besides, I'm a one woman man, and you satisfied me quite enough the other night. I can't wait until the weekend so we can have a repeat performance."

Blushing, JJ decided it was time to end this, she wanted to get home and get this over with. She stood up, making her leave and saying to him "I have to phone him when I head for home, he's meeting me there. Will you be following me right away?"

"You better believe I'll be right behind you. You won't be alone with him again as far as I'm concerned." Rossi had a protective streak in him too, but not one that would smother JJ.

"Thanks, Dave, I really appreciate this." opening the door and heading to her own office to get ready for home. It was going to be a trying evening, and she just hoped everything would work out for the best.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N I promise, next chapter we are back to more JJ/Rossi goodness. I kind of wandered here, wanting to work everything in before they got some alone time together once again. Many thanks to Tracia, Snoozie and Tonnia, I appreciate your reviews, glad to know you are with me on this journey! As always, CM is not mine, I'm just playing with the characters for now!**

JJ arrived home, Dave following right behind her. Prentiss and Garcia were coming shortly, but had stopped by a local restaurant to pick up some supper, making an evening of this. She gathered her stuff from the car, Dave helping her, so she could gather Henry up. They quickly went up to her apartment, and were surprised, when standing in the hallway was Will, already there. Somehow, he'd beaten JJ home, shocking JJ. Uncomfortable to the extreme, she opened her door, letting everyone into her home.

"Did you bring backup, JJ? Is that why the old man is here?" Will said snidely.

"Actually, Will, I'm still expecting Prentiss and Garcia. I hadn't seen Penelope for awhile, and Prentiss wanted to spend some time with Henry. I'm using Rossi to help me carry everything, he's paying for this shindig." JJ quipped, trying not to give anything away.

Looking over at Rossi, Will had already dismissed him as no threat, a mistake on his part. Rossi merely raised an eyebrow, instead setting JJ's belongings down on the counter, and then going to help her with Henry. Taking the carseat from her hands, he told JJ he'd go change him, giving her some time alone with her ex. He just wanted to give JJ some space, but would still listen, making sure Will did nothing to harm her.

JJ turned to face Will, fire blazing in her eyes. "I told you to come and discuss it tonight, Will, not as soon as I got home. What are you doing here so early?"

"JJ, you said to come tonight. You didn't specify a time. Why do I have to make appointments to see my own child? And why is your boss in there, changing my son? What is he doing here anyway? You never spent any off time with him before this." Will said in accusing tone.

"I invited everyone over tonight, Will. It was some down time for us, after that hellish case we just got back from. Penelope and Emily just aren't here yet. What, because he's a male co-worker, I'm not to have him here? I told you, Will, he's a friend., and he's not my boss, he's a co-worker. If you don't like that, too bad. I will spend time with who I like. And I think the whole changing the diaper thing was an excuse to give us some time to talk, so if you want to discuss custody arrangements, let's do so, now. I'm not discussing my friends anymore!"

Seeing that he'd pushed her too far once again, Will backed down. It was finally dawning on him that JJ was a lost cause, she really was through with him. Shocked by that realization, a mix of sadness and anger welled up within him.

"JJ, I'm going back to New Orleans. There is nothing here for me but Henry. I will fly up to see him every weekend, or you can fly down with him, but I can't stay here. If we're through, we're really through. And I'm not going to stay here, watching you live it up with your team,giving them your time and energy, when you could never bother to do it for me. I'm gone, not that you care, you are the one that wanted out of this relationship, not me."

Staring at Will, not believing that he was making it quite so simple, she was stunned. Just like that, 2 years of her life was done. Hardly believing he was letting go this easily, she almost didn't trust herself to speak, but yet, she did. "Will, are you sure you have to go back to New Orleans? Surely you could find a job up here, not so far from your son. Just because we are done, doesn't mean you have to go so far from your son."

"JJ, I have to. I've never been comfortable here. I tried for you, for Henry, but I can't do it anymore, either. If you are ready to give up on us, I'm not staying here. I've already contacted my old boss, my job is waiting for me as soon as I can get back there."

"Fine, Will, fine. I'm sorry, I truly am. I never meant to cause you to leave here, I didn't." JJ said lamely.

"Can I see my son now? Or is he going to be changing the diaper on the kid forever?" Will ground out.

"Yeah, Will, it's fine. I'll get him from Rossi, just a sec." JJ quickly walked to Henry's room.

Entering, she seen Dave cradling her son, happiness welling up inside of her at the sight. It was a side of Dave she hadn't seen, the big softie. Going over to him, she gathered her son up, telling Dave that Will wanted to see Henry. She whispered she'd tell him everything later, so he followed her out of the nursery.

When they got back to the living room, Penelope and Emily were standing there, having arrived while JJ was getting Henry. An awkward silence had fallen over all of them, so JJ handed Henry to Will. Trying to be civil, she decided to invite Will to eat with them, but he declined. He wanted to take Henry for a walk though. Once he left, JJ told them about what Will had said.

"Just like that? He's going back to New Orleans, leaving his son behind? Isn't that what he accused you of, abandoning your son on a continual basis? And now, he's picking up sticks and heading home?" Rossi asked her.

"Yeah, just like that, Dave. I find it hard to believe, honestly. So much has changed in so few days, my head is spinning. And it's made me realize, if he can just leave like that, I don't think he loved me as much as he thought either." JJ mused.

"Well, isn't it what you wanted, angel? He's taking it much better than you thought, he's not hanging on, causing a big scene" Garcia said.

"yeah, and that has me worried for some reason. He's taking this way too calmly. I mean, I'm glad he's got his job back, that was always something that caused us a lot of tension. He had the best of intentions when he moved here, but he never did like Quantico. And I couldn't give it all up, not even for him", JJ said sadly.

"Oh, sweetheart, I hate to say it, but maybe he just wasn't the one. You'll find a man someday who will understand this job and not try and make you choose between it and him. You'll see!" Penelope said enthusiastically.

"I can always hope, can't I?" JJ giggled.

They all ate in a companionable silence, Dave giving JJ looks every now and then. He liked to think she'd already found the guy, that she would realize he did understand, that he would not make her choose between the job and him. He couldn't wait for this weekend, only one day to go, and they could be together, for awhile at least. When he'd held Henry earlier, he'd enjoyed the experience. He'd never had an opportunity to do that, but he had a feeling that he'd be getting a lot more of it. He could tell JJ was worried about Will being so far away from Henry, but with her permission, he was determined that the boy would never want.

Shortly after they'd finished the meal, Will had returned with the baby. Taking his leave of them, he'd left quietly, not putting up any fuss. JJ had teared up then, it was done, really done. Garcia had given her a hug then, telling her it was okay. That's when she'd really lost it. Even though she'd wanted the breakup, this was the first time she'd cried about it, mostly for Henry's sake. Rossi wanted to hold her, but he let Emily and Penelope do the honors, not wanting to appear overly familiar with JJ. He'd stood back, caring for Henry, instead. Eventually, she had cried herself to sleep, everything having finally caught up with her.

Garcia didn't want JJ to spend the night alone, but had made plans with Kevin for later. She offered to call him and cancel her plans, but Rossi said to go, he'd stay and make sure that JJ was okay. Prentiss wanted to, but she was Garcia's ride, and needed to take her home. She offered to return after she'd dropped Penelope off, but Rossi said no, he was fine. His ready bag was in his vehicle, he'd grab it, and put up on the couch for the night. Seeing them to the door, their opinion of Rossi had shot up, seeing how he was looking out for their little JJ. Leaving her in his capable hands, the girls left, happy someone was taking care of their friend, relieved that things seemed to be working out for JJ, not suspecting that the man they left her with was already in love with her, and would do anything to look out for her.


	10. Chapter 10

After his co-workers had left, Rossi set about settling in for the night. First, he carried JJ to the bed, tucking her in. Then, making sure Henry was down for the night, he set about getting ready for bed. He hadn't spent the night on a couch in a long time, but at least this one seemed comfortable. He flipped on the tv, grabbed a beer out of the fridge. He'd just finally dozed off, when a voice woke him completely up.

"I'm sorry I cried, Dave. It was just the finality of everything. It's really over. And he's leaving Henry behind. I can't believe he's just returning to New Orleans." JJ said quietly.

"Honey, you have nothing to be sorry for, nothing at all. Everything has happened so fast, you haven't had time to grieve, it's still a loss, no matter if you were the one wanting to leave him or not." he said as he took her in his arms.

Cradling her in his arms, he rocked her back and forth, kissing the top of her head. Pretty soon, it wasn't just the top of her head he was kissing, she raised her head up, and he captured her lips in a deep kiss. She pulled away suddenly, looking at Dave intently. As if something clicked in her head, she took his hand, leading him to her bedroom. JJ didn't want to spend the night alone, she wanted to spend it with the man that she realized she had fallen in love with somewhere along the way. Entering the room, she turned, pulling him in to a deep kiss once again.

Maneuvering in the darkness, they fell onto her bed. Laying in each others arms, they continued to kiss, hands everywhere, until eventually, both felt the need to do so much more than just kiss. Dave slowly began unbuttoning her blouse, looking at her for permission to continue. When she didn't object, he continued, stopping to kiss the soft skin hidden underneath. A shudder ran through her, and she quickly began to return the favor on him, working his shirt off of him, until warm skin was against warm skin. He set about working on her skirt then, before he shimmied out of his pants, leaving them with next to nothing on. They began kissing once again, neither getting enough out of the other. She rolled herself on top of him, pinning him underneath her. He reached up, unsnapping her bra, palming each breast in his hand, thumbing the nipple, causing her to shudder once again. Feeling that, he quickly rolled her, til she was underneath him, working the rest of their garments off. Entering her slowly, he quickened his pace, as her legs squeezed him further into her. Pretty soon, they'd both been satisfied, and they lay next to one another afterwards.

He was the first to speak " I thought I wasn't to come to this apartment again, JJ. Yet, here I am, doing what we probably shouldn't have been doing. At least I have an excuse, I'm looking after you." he chuckled.

"Yeah, you looked after me alright." she giggled.

"Could I help it if Prentiss was Garcia's ride, and Garcia had a date? I wasn't going to leave you alone here tonight. I'm here to look after you , JJ. I will always look after you." he whispered.

Snuggling into Dave's chest again, JJ couldn't believe how happy she was with this man. Why had she never realized this before? She had a lot of regrets about lost time with him, hadn't realized what had been in front of her for so long. Since she'd come back from maternity leave, she now looked back on all the little things he'd been doing to help her along. He'd been the one to listen to her cry the first trip out of Quantico where she'd had to leave Henry behind. He'd listened to her complain about Will's over protectiveness. He was the first to offer encouragement in most anything she'd done, and she'd shrugged it off. No wonder he finally blew up at her in Colorado. Reaching to kiss him again, she cradled his face with both of her hands.

"Dave, I feel like I've wasted so much time. You really have been here in front of me the whole time. I wish I'd realized it sooner. And I know people will think we are rushing things, but I've never been happier than I am with you."

Looking down at the tiny blond, Dave couldn't believe how his fortune had turned in less than a week. If anyone had told him that his dream woman would be his reality, he would have laughed at them. But no, here he was, happier than he'd been in a very long time.

"Me too, babe, me too."

With that, he pulled her in close, and they settled for the rest of the night. Before they knew it, morning had come, JJ waking first. She slipped out of bed, heading to the shower before Dave got up. She wanted to get hers done and over with, so she could prepare Henry for the day. She also wanted to get some packing for the weekend done, they were following Dave out to Little Creek that night. As she set about her tasks for the day, Dave awakened, taking a few minutes to realize where he was. Once he did, a smirk crossed his face, and he realized he was just where he wanted to be. Hearing the shower running and then the sounds of Henry awakening, he padded out to the baby's room, picking the boy up from the crib. He changed Henry's diaper, just finishing when JJ popped her head in the door. He seen the momentary panic in her eyes, she'd had the slight belief he'd slipped out without saying goodbye. Instead, seeing him there holding her son, she broke out in a huge smile.

"There's my two men! Mommy's here, Henry." Taking Henry from Dave, she reached up to give him a morning kiss. Pulling both of them in for a hug, he gave JJ another kiss, one that reassured her he was not going anywhere. He headed for the bathroom then, and JJ to the small kitchen. When he came out from his shower, he took the moment to stand back, just watching JJ go about her routine. Seeing her feed Henry's his morning cereal, the love she showered on her son, he could only marvel, thinking that Will was a fool for pushing that all away. Of course, he'd never give him the opportunity to recapture it. If Dave Rossi had his way, Jennifer Jareau would be Jennifer Rossi before too long.

Coming into the kitchen, he poured himself a cup of coffee before taking a seat beside Jen. Henry happily bubbled away in his chair, and Jen was busy making funny faces at her son.

"I just have to throw some stuff together, and we'll follow you out tonight. I want to pack Henry's playpen, he can sleep in there tonight. I can't wait to see the great Rossi homestead." Jen joked with him.

"I can hardly wait, Jen. Last night was an unexpected pleasure. I had no intentions of doing that last night, but I loved it. I could wakeup next to you everyday." Dave told her outright.

JJ blushed at his words, remembering how she'd felt too. "Want to bet that Emily and Penelope question me about how you behaved here last night? Your reputation precedes you. I would hope they realized you wouldn't take advantage of a woman who was emotionally upset." she joked with him.

"As I recall, I was sleeping on the couch before I was taken advantage of last night." he chuckled.

With that, JJ slugged him in the arm and said that it was time to get going. Pulling her in for one last kiss, they got the rest of her things together to pack in the car, got Henry ready, and were off to work.


	11. Chapter 11

For one media liason intent on keeping her new relationship quiet, and one profiler who agreed to keep their secret for now, they were doing a lousy job of it. Whether it was because JJ was secure in the knowledge that she was going to be going home with Rossi tonight, or whether it was because they couldn't keep from looking at each other over the course of the day, they were dropping hints left and right that something was up between the two of them.

The first thing that happened that morning occurred when they were both in the break room getting a cup of coffee. A mundane task, to be sure, but they stood close to one another while doing so, unconsciously perhaps, but close none the less. And when you worked with profilers, body language said a lot. So, when Dave left the room with his coffee, and JJ stood there stirring hers, she was smiling. Unfortunately for her, Emily Prentiss so happened to be in the room too. It wasn't that JJ and Dave didn't realize she was there, they had talked to her, but for a brief moment, JJ was caught up in thinking about Dave, she didn't realize she was being watched very closely. Standing up, Emily sidled over to JJ, intent on questioning her. Something was up, and she wanted to know.

"How was last night, JJ? I was going to come back, but Dave said he had everything under control. How was it having the Great David Rossi spend the night in your apartment?" she sweetly asked.

JJ, who had been taking a sip of coffee at the time, nearly choked on it. She managed to sputter out "Dave was a gentleman all night. He took care of Henry for me, putting him to bed. I felt bad he had to sleep on the couch, but it was a relief having someone there to look out for me." JJ felt a little bad that she wasn't letting Prentiss in on everything, but hey, she wasn't prepared to let everyone in on their little secret yet. What she didn't realize was she was slowly giving it away, in spite of herself.

Prentiss, putting JJ on the spot, merely said "I'd love for Mr. Legendary Profiler to look after me some time. Maybe I'd be in as good a mood as you are." chuckling, her game done for now, walked away, leaving an open-mouthed and staring JJ in her wake.

For his part, Dave wasn't doing that much better. However, since he wasn't the one who wanted to hide the relationship, maybe he wasn't trying too hard. But he'd promised JJ he'd try, and he intended to keep quiet. If the relationship was to be discovered, it would be on JJ's terms. He'd do as she wished. Saying that, he couldn't help himself at times. Standing with Morgan, discussing a case, JJ had dropped a file on her way by the two of them. When she'd bent over to pick it up, Dave couldn't help himself, he checked out her rear. It really was shapely, and he was thinking that it was all his. Morgan, however, picked up on that small thing, and what he said next snapped Dave out of his train of thought.

"Were you checking out Miss JJ's ass? Come on, Dave!" Morgan joked with him.

"Um, well, yeah, I did. It's a pretty sight, wouldn't you say?" Rossi couldn't believe he'd been caught. He wasn't nearly as smooth as he pictured himself. His reputation was going to be in the toilet if he didn't watch himself.

"Yeah, man, it's a nice sight, but it's _JJ_!" Morgan emphasized. He wasn't a profiler for nothing, and he'd learned from Garcia that it had been Rossi who had spent the night over at JJ's after she'd cried herself to sleep and no one had wanted to leave her alone. Deciding to play the big brother part, he thought he'd mess with Rossi. Opportunities like that didn't come very often. "Just remember, Dave, she just ended a relationship. She's vulnerable right now. Whatever you do, don't hurt her. She deserves better, and I thank god she figured out Will wasn't the one. She deserves much better than what she's been dealt so far."

Looking at Morgan, realizing he was being put on probation, Rossi agreed with Derek. "Yes, she deserves better than what she had. And if I ever do "go after" her, I will not hurt her. You have my word on that."

Leaving it at that, Rossi went to his office. How did things change so fast? And how the hell did Morgan read him like that? If JJ wanted to keep things secret, they were already failing, and they'd just barely gotten together. He needed to get out of the office for a little bit, and with lunch approaching, he decided to go. Debating whether to tell JJ or not, he thought better of it when he saw her standing with Morgan. He merely said goodbye to both of them, and hopped on the elevator. He turned around in time to see JJ's disappointed look as the doors closed.

Morgan, being nosy, also seen the disappointed look on JJ's face. Not knowing whether it was his place to say anything to the small blond, he spoke anyway. "He likes you, you know."

"Who? What are you talking about Derek?" JJ looked up at him surprised.

"Rossi. Don't give me that look, JJ. The man has liked you since he walked into this unit. Even you can't deny that." Derek spoke quietly.

"Well, that may be, Morgan, but nothing will ever come of it. I just ended things with Will. Rossi is a playboy. Whatever fascination he has with me is nothing." JJ desperately wanted to convince Derek of this. She wasn't prepared.

"Well, you should try telling him that. When he looks at you, I see something there. Maybe in time, you should check it out."

JJ stood stock still, blushing, before suddenly whirling around and heading to her office, leaving Morgan standing there smiling after her.

Once she got to her office, she was like a hummingbird, flitting around. Moving files around, flustered with herself, she didn't know quite what to think. Obviously, some of the team recognized the signs of something between Rossi and herself. She knew they were profilers, but come on! The relationship was so new between the two of them, she didn't want everyone in on it yet. Then a thought occurred to her, what if Prentiss and Morgan got together and compared notes? She'd already been caught out by Prentiss staring into a coffee cup smiling about Rossi, God knew what would happen if Morgan told Prentiss of some look apparently Dave gave her today? And yet another thought occurred to her, my god, the implosion of Garcia once she started to figure things out. Starting to panic, and needing to escape the BAU, she grabbed her purse and headed out. She realized she needed to get a grip on things, and decided to head for a little retail therapy over her lunch hour.

JJ took her car, heading towards a little shop that specialized in rare liquors. She wanted to get Dave a bottle of Scotch. Walking in, she was startled to see him standing in there, purchasing a bottle of scotch as it was. Smiling, she walked up beside him. Turning, he looked at her, pleased to see her.

"I couldn't take it anymore, JJ. I wanted to tell Morgan about us, god help me, I did."

"Give me a minute here, Dave, I just want to get something, and then we'll go to my car, I don't want to talk here anymore." JJ smiled at him, glad they were getting a chance to talk. He waited for her by the door, before they exited the shop together.

Getting into her car, JJ fiddled with the steering wheel. Then, seemingly making up her mind, she turned to Dave, and they pulled each other in for a kiss, not caring who might see them making out in her car. "I've wanted to do that for the better part of the morning, my dear." Dave let out.

"I never realized how hard this was going to be. It's worse because now it seems we are being watched. It feels like every little thing I do is being scrutinized. And I was warned by Morgan not to hurt you in any way, shape or form. I have the feeling my life was in jeopardy if I hurt you at all."

"Well, Prentiss wouldn't mind being taken care of by "Mr. Legendary Profiler" himself, much like I was last night. For the record, you slept on the couch and were a perfect gentleman, if anyone questions you." JJ laughed.

"Good to know, good to know. Are you ready for this afternoon? We have to keep things much better between us, I don't know how, but unless we want everybody in on us, we are going to have to learn to hide things better. And god help you once Garcia gets an inkling, and she will. Morgan can't keep anything to himself." Rossi chuckled.

"Don't I know it. Listen, I've got to pick up a few other things before I head back to work. I just had to get out of there for a few minutes. As far as I'm concerned, we never seen each other right now. I'll see you back there, and I can't wait to get to Little Creek tonight."

At that, Dave reached in for a final kiss, before getting out and heading to his own vehicle. The afternoon at work may be unbearable for the two of them, but he had the whole weekend to look forward to. And he didn't intend to waste a moment of their time together.


	12. Chapter 12

JJ and Rossi spent the better part of the rest of the day avoiding one another. No contact unless another team member was with them, and they avoided alone time with any team member either. They figured that way, questions wouldn't be raised again, and so they survived the afternoon. It was going fairly well, almost time for them to begin the trip to Little Creek, when some last minute delays cropped up. JJ was going to have to spend some more time at the office, and Rossi figured it might be too obvious to wait for her. He hated to do it, but not wanting to give up the fact that they would be spending some more time together, he left ahead of her. He phoned her on his cell, telling her that he could wait for her if she wished. She decided it would be just better for him to head home, but she told him she'd call him once she began the trip. She so just wanted to be there, out of sight of the prying eyes at work. Prentiss had tried to corner her once, but JJ was too swift for her, and had managed to escape the next inquisition. JJ set down to finish up her work as fast as she could.

Rossi headed for Little Creek, not liking JJ having to drive out here by herself. He'd made her promise to contact him as soon as she could, he just wanted her there safely. He'd also offered to pick Henry up and take him with him, but JJ had figured it would be too much, and that he'd be caught. Besides, everything was in her car, ready for the journey. He arrived at the cabin, and started making dinner. He had a passion for cooking, and was determined to impress JJ. The time past quickly for him, and before he realized it, it was nearing eight o'clock with no word from JJ. He picked up his phone, dialing anxiously, when he seen lights coming in his driveway. He hurried outside to see a very irritated JJ Jareau alight from her vehicle.

"Sorry, Dave, I couldn't get rid of Prentiss for the longest time. It was like she knew something was up. I'm sorry I didn't call, but I was so freaking irritated by her, I just needed some quiet. Plus Henry decided to fuss most of the trip. I am sorry I didn't phone though. It occurred to me when I was almost here." JJ smiled finally, relieved to be here.

Not knowing what to say, although he'd been worried, he just pulled her into an embrace. "I've been wanting to do this all afternoon, hon" just holding her. Henry started to wail then, he wanted out of his car seat. JJ turned to get him out, and Rossi began gathering things from the car to take into his cabin. First thing he set up was the playpen, to give the boy a place to just stretch out. It took him a good 15 minutes to retrieve all the baby stuff JJ needed to survive a weekend at his place with her son. When he finally finished, he seen a very exhausted looking JJ resting on the couch, her son in her arms. Scooping Henry up from her, he told her to stretch out on the couch for a bit, he'd change Henry and get him settled in. When he came back out, JJ had fallen into a light sleep on the couch. Dave decided to take the opportunity to bond somewhat with Henry. He'd never want to step on Will's toes as a father, but if this relationship with JJ was to blossom, he needed to connect with the boy, which didn't seem to be a problem. Henry had taken a shine to Dave, laughing and playing with the profiler, especially his beard, which he enjoyed tugging on. When JJ awoke shortly there after, she was amused to see Dave Rossi blowing raspberries on her sons tummy and the baby enjoying it immensely, laughing at Dave.

JJ smiled, watching Dave play with her boy. This was just all too good to be true, the man she was falling in love with obviously got on fine with her son, the one thing she'd been somewhat afraid of. She'd known that Rossi could change a diaper, but this was the first real interaction between the two men in her life. Knowing that Dave was making an effort, she was delighted at it. She sat up, capturing the attention of both. Reaching his arms out, Henry wanted his mom then, who scooped him up and kissed him. She went about preparing his late supper, and fed him first, before the adults settled in for their late supper.

JJ was amazed at what she ate. A wonderful chicken parmigiana, and some fresh bread, along with a delicious dessert, she looked at Dave in surprise. "This is terrific, Dave! I had no idea you could cook."

Smiling at the compliment, he poured some more wine for JJ, before finishing his glass and refilling his own. "Did I mention I love having you at my place, JJ? I feel like we can relax here. I was worried about you, but I should know you can take care of yourself. Did you have any problems finding your way here?"

"No, it was just Prentiss, she followed me out of the office tonight, wanting to do something. I told her I couldn't, that I had some other things to do tonight, but I was afraid she'd follow me. She's like a freaking dog with a bone, she won't let it go. She's going to find us out, I know she is. She won't let us be, now that she has a hint of something." JJ told him, shaking her head.

"So I ended up going back to my apartment to grab a couple of other things, I thought it might throw her off my trail. I didn't intend to be too long, but when I was there, Will phoned again. He's flying down to New Orleans tonight, and will be back up next weekend to visit Henry." she commented with a trace of sadness.

Seeing that, Dave got up from the table, and went over and knealed down beside her. "Don't be sad, JJ. We're here to enjoy this weekend. Let's just let everything go, and relax."

Getting up from her chair, and following Dave over to his oversized couch, she curled up beside him, snuggling into arms. For the first time in a long time, JJ just relaxed. She wasn't tense, she didn't feel the need to run, she just wanted to be exactly where she was. At some point, Dave turned on the fire, the chill of the evening starting to creep in, and JJ laughed at that. It was so weird, here with him. A week ago, she couldn't have imagined any of this. Now, she didn't want to be anywhere but with him. At that, she wondered what it was about her that had rejected the father of her child, and moved on to this man. She had no regrets, that was for sure.

"Are you happy you are here, JJ? Are we moving too fast?" Dave suddenly blurted out. He was more anxious then he let on, he'd waited til they were away from everything and everyone that he wasn't quite the confidant man he appeared to be. Something about JJ had a way of throwing Dave into a tailspin, not knowing quite what to do or say.

"Very happy, Dave. I don't want to be anywhere else. I just realized I hadn't taken so long to see what was in front of me for so long." JJ let out.

"Do you remember when I came back to the BAU, after maternity leave? We were so at odds on that case, but even then, you came to talk to me. I realized that day, you weren't quite the confident man you like to let out. You take things personally. And that's when I really started to look at you differently. But you came and you talked to me. You didn't soften things for me. Do you want to know something else about that day?" she asked him.

"Anything you want to tell me, JJ, I'm listening."

"You asked me why I'd come in early that day. I said it was the case that was bothering me, but that was only partially true. It was when I got back from that case that things with Will started going downhill. I was affected by the whole mother and child thing, but it was then that Will started to use it against me. He said I didn't have to go back to work, that Henry needed me at home more than work needed me. We fought half of the night over that. I came to work to escape him that day. Running into you, I thought I was headed for another fight. But you didn't condemn me, we just talked. And I've always appreciated it. That's when I knew there was more to you then met the eye, you admitted to me how hard it was for you to come back to the BAU. After that, I think I was a goner, even though I didn't realize it. It almost killed me when we were in Colorado and you laid into me about me not doing my job." JJ confessed all this, hoping it would give Dave some more insight into her.

Looking down at her, Dave couldn't admit the same. He'd wanted JJ for far longer than when she'd come back from maternity leave, but it was after that case that he'd realized that JJ had changed, and would need more time before he could ever, ever come after her. He would have waited much longer than this for a chance to get with her. He'd actually wondered if the JJ of old would ever return, and she had, somewhat. She was damn good at her job, and she'd proven it time and again. The fact that she'd finally just had enough of being treated like she'd been proved that the JJ of old was in there, and had come out swinging. He thanked god for that, pleased he'd finally gotten his opportunity. And he wasn't going to relinquish it. He finally spoke, admitting how angry he'd been that Will kept trying to make JJ feel so bad for doing her job. It was like he was trying to get her fired.

"And I couldn't bear to see that happen, JJ. When you were gone on maternity leave, I missed you like crazy, but knew you'd be back. I couldn't go and visit you, I figured I'd give any feelings I had away. And when you did come back, you'd changed, and I did act like a grump on that case, but you have to realize, you were so close, and I still couldn't have you. You were his, and I was angry about that case, the psychic, the ring you wore. I thought it was an engagement ring, and you were truly his. I thought you just said it was a birthstone ring, because you do like to keep things private. And I thought I'd lost you forever. Everything just came to a head for me, and I broke in Colorado." he finally admitted.

JJ just stared at him for the longest time, holding his hand, surprised at their confessions tonight.

She finally reached up to kiss him, happy for the first time in a very long time. In the midst of the kiss however, she felt a real need to yawn, and it slipped out, even though she did try to hold it in. Dave laughed and said "I didn't know I was that boring, my dear.", taking no insult in it.

Dave knew she was tired, and he simply took her by the hand and lead her to his room. There was no question that she would spend the night in his bed, however, he had no intention of doing anymore for the night. JJ quickly got ready for bed, realizing he'd never seen her in her pj's before. They'd never bothered with them in the two nights they'd spent together. She pulled on a tank top and comfy pajama pants, and turned to look at him. He wore only pajama pants, leaving his chest bare. She went over to him, placing her hands on his chest, kissing him deeply. They crawled into bed, laying in each others arms, happy just to be with the person that both had realized they'd fallen in love with fast.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N A slight change, I'm turning this chapter to an M, for some of the content. I hope it turned out alright, and again, thanks for keeping reading!**

The morning light is what woke JJ up first. She'd only had to get up once during the night with Henry, so took the opportunity to relax, enjoying the silence, except for the deep, even breathing of the man lying beside her. The opportunity was too good to pass up, she decided to give Rossi a morning wake up call. She started feathering his chest with kisses, wandering everywhere she could. She felt him start to stir, and kept up her efforts, using her hands to stroke his chest, along with her kisses. Fully awake now, he started to return the favor, pulling her into a long kiss before starting to kiss her everywhere as well. His hands worked his way under her tank top, seeking out her firm breasts. His hands hampered by the tank top, he worked it off of her, leaving her exposed in the cool morning air. Her nipples hardened at the cold air, and he turned his ministrations on them, working them with his tongue. She moaned as he did this, starting to lose control of herself already. She pulled him into another long kiss, before slipping her hands into his pajama pants. Stroking him, he got even harder than he'd been, until both of them felt the need to shed the rest of their clothes. He entered her slowly at first, gradually building up, going faster and faster, her legs wrapped firmly around him. Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, they'd both came together, leaving both panting and exhausted. They curled into one another again, enjoying the feel of their bodies next to one another.

"Well, that was a hell of a wake up call, sweetheart. What got into you this morning?" Dave chuckled.

"I just seen what I wanted and I took it, big guy." JJ laughed. Grabbing a blanket, JJ wrapped it around herself before making her way to his bathroom for a quick shower. She was sure Henry would be awake soon, and she wanted to be ready. Looking back at Dave, he was still laying in the bed. Grabbing the sheet off her body, she tossed it at him before running into the bathroom and laughing as she locked the door. She honestly didn't know what had gotten into her. She wasn't normally so carefree as she was now. But she just felt so damn good, especially next to him. This mornings activities wouldn't be the last time she'd be doing that, this weekend, not by a long shot.

After showering, she came out and got dressed. Dave was missing from the room, and she padded out into the hallway. Henry had spent the night next door to them, and she'd had the baby monitors with her. She walked into the room, seeing Dave holding her son. Smiling again, she took Henry from him and told him the shower was free. He leaned down and kissed her again, before leaving to get his shower. Changing Henry, she'd then wandered down to Dave's kitchen. It was truly a magnificent kitchen, no wonder he loved to cook in there. It was huge, but then, so was everything else in the house. The huge living room windows faced a pond, and she could only marvel at the beauty of the scene. Setting her son in his chair, she'd busied herself getting his breakfast ready. Dave soon joined her, coming up behind her to wrap his arms around her waist and kissing her neck. She giggled at that, delighting in the feel of his beard tickling her neck. After Henry was finished, JJ fixed herself a small breakfast and started the coffee, before sitting down next to Dave once again.

"What would you like to do today, JJ? We can go for a hike around my property, we can go for a horseback ride, anything you want to do. Did you bring the baby carrier, so you can do all this?" Rossi asked her.

"Dave, with the amount of stuff you brought in last night, do you think I'd forget the baby carrier?" JJ chuckled.

"Well, just because you have a mountain of baby stuff doesn't mean you didn't forget something." Dave said jokingly.

"It's here, Dave, it's what I went back to the apartment for last night." JJ commented.

That issue settled, they finished up their light breakfast.

"Why don't you show us around your property, Dave. I've never been out here before, only heard what a huge place this was. It doesn't disappoint, that's for sure. Your house is beautiful." she said admiringly.

"It's where I come to relax, it's my place to unwind. After some of the cases we've had, I need it. I wonder sometimes why I came back to the BAU, but this place relieves my stress."

"well, you certainly can get far away from everything here, that's for sure," JJ said with a smile and a laugh.

Putting their dishes in the dishwasher, they got Henry prepared for the outdoors. It was a nice day, it was turning to summer. Mornings were still cool, but it was warming up quickly. As they began to walk, he grabbed her hand, not wanting to let go. For the first time in many years, he was a content man. He knew he wouldn't have any opportunities to do this once they were back to work, and he intended to take every opportunity to make sure this woman knew how he felt. He knew that things had happened very fast between the two of them, but it didn't mean that his feelings and hers were any less real than if it had been a long courtship. He realized he'd had longer to adjust to his feelings than she'd had, but was glad that she'd come to him that night in Colorado. So many disappointments on his side had disappeared when she'd returned his feeling that night. And he had no intention of ever letting it disappear. They walked the path around his lake, her taking everything in. It was like she was a little kid, her enthusiasm for all this encircling him too. They really didn't get many chances to just enjoy life. There was always a phone call to come, dragging them back to the world of men's indignity to their fellow men. So far, there luck was holding up. He shrugged off thoughts of work, catching up with JJ and Henry. He whipped out his camera, taking a picture of the two of them standing on a rock, looking across his pond.

Soon they turned back to towards the stables, heading out for a horseback ride. Helping JJ up on one of his gentlest horses, he then handed her Henry. He chuckled at the sight, needing to snap another picture. JJ laughed at this, "Why would you need any pictures of me, Dave? Do you want pics as proof of how ridiculous I look up here?"

"I just want pictures of the two of you, period, hon. And you could never be ridiculous, you are too beautiful." he said earnestly.

JJ looked down at this man, and thought to herself "who are you and what have you done with the real David Rossi?" . He was turning into a big romantic soul in front of her eyes. She couldn't believe they were together. She bent down towards him, cradling Henry so he wouldn't fall and kissed Dave. They took off on a ride together, spending the better part of an hour exploring on horseback. When they returned to the stables, he helped her down, and they headed into the house. Henry was ready for some lunch and a diaper change, and was making his displeasure known. Dave promised to take them into the small town near here, just to walk around there, so they changed after lunch and headed out.

They spent the afternoon, just talking, walking and getting to know each other better. Henry didn't even give Dave the hard time she'd envisioned when Dave had first asked her to come here for the weekend. Instead of Dave cooking, they'd gone to a wonderful little restaurant in the town, enjoying the delicious meal there. When they'd finally headed for home again, the sun was setting. They got to the cabin, and settled Henry in, the poor baby was worn out. JJ put him down, hopefully for the night, and when she came down, she didn't see Dave at first. She looked out the huge windows, and seen him leaning on the rail of the deck. Going over to her bags, she fished out the bottle of scotch she'd bought for him, and then went out on the deck.

"Penny for your thoughts, or is that too cliché to ask?" JJ said as she sidled up to him.

"Just thinking how lucky I am to have you here. This has just been wonderful, the time we've been able to spend together. And I don't know how we are going to be able to go to work on Monday, and pretend nothing has happened." he let out.

"Dave, it will come. I promise. I will let them in one day. But I just want you and me to have each other for now, before it becomes "something" to everyone." JJ said sadly.

Changing the subject, she held up the bottle of scotch she'd purchased, and handed it to him. "I hope it's the right brand. I just wanted to get you something special, considering all the things you've done the last few days."

"It's terrific, JJ. You didn't have to get me this. I don't need any gifts. I love it, though. Thank you very much." Dave brought her into a kiss to properly thank her.

"You're welcome, Dave. You mean a lot to mean, and this is just some small way to say thanks." she snuggled into his arms when she said this. They drifted back into the house, and he turned the fire on again, and then flipped on his cd player. The music that drifted out was a waltz, and he took her into his arms again, drawing her into a dance. As they swayed back and forth to the music, JJ was amazed by his dancing ability. Was there anything this man could not do? Damn, she realized she didn't know as much as she thought about him. And she looked forward to spending a lot of time finding things out. As they continued to dance, it was eventually too much for both of them. They headed up to Dave's bedroom, and ended the day as it had begun, together, enjoying each other, not wanting the night to end.


	14. Chapter 14

Sunday morning arrived bright and beautiful, just like the previous day. And the two people in Dave Rossi's bed also awoke in much the same way as they had the previous morning. The minor difference was the fact that this time, Dave was doing his best to awaken the beautiful blond laying beside him, in the exact manner as she had awoken him yesterday. Pretty soon, the two of them engaged in the same activity as before, both giving as good as they got. When Dave started nibbling on her neck, she squealed at him, afraid of him leaving a mark, that she couldn't explain at work the next day. So, he worked his way further down, where evidence of his wanderings wouldn't be noticed. They had a leisurely hour, just exploring one another. Afterwards, they lay there, wrapped up with one another. Henry hadn't stirred yet, something that surprised JJ. Usually, he was an early little riser. She decided to just enjoy the quiet, it would be time enough to get the day started. She was content to just lay there while Rossi feathered his fingers up and down her arm.

"Dave, I really don't want to leave here. This has been the best, most relaxing weekend I've had in a long time. I have to confess, even when I was with Will, I never could just do nothing. I really did put work before him, as a buffer zone." JJ just realized that about herself. Any other weekend she had time off, Will and her had never just lain around, talking getting to know each other better. She shouldered the blame for that, but the realization she'd had made it solid to her that Will really hadn't been the one for her. For if he was, she would have taken the time. Will never had a chance, no matter whether they'd had a child together or not. She finally knew the meaning of "not meant to be".

"Jen, I love having you here. And someday, when you are ready, I want you and Henry to move in here with me." he held his hand up, seeing her start to protest. "Jen, no, don't say no. I know this has been fast between the two of us, but I am sure of one thing after this weekend, I intend to marry you and never have to be away from you again. I'm just letting my intentions be known, because as far as I'm concerned, this is it. I've just realized it longer than you."

JJ responded to this with a kiss, planted firmly on him. They arose from the bed, and headed for the shower. If this weekend had shown her anything, it was that she was not nearly as shy as she had believed before. Entering the shower, Dave proved to her that it was worth the effort, and she thought back to when she'd told Garcia that it had always had seemed to be the thought of showering with someone that was more fun than the actual effort. She finally figured out it must have been the guy she was with, because Dave made fun in the shower worth it. When that ended, they got ready for the day, and Henry was stirring. She went to him and scooped him out of the playpen, planting little kisses on his hands. Henry squealed in happiness when his mama was playing with him, a very content child. She quickly changed him and then settled in on the couch with him, feeding him a bottle. Dave joined her on the couch, content to just sit with the two of them. Tomorrow it was back to not being even able to hardly look at one another, and he wanted as much "hands on" time with JJ as possible. At the same time, he didn't want to smother her with too much attention, afraid of scaring her off. Figuring out the balance between them was going to take a lot of work. So, he decided to let her lead the day.

Getting up, he headed to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee, JJ missed the feel of his warmth near her. The urge to follow him was too great, so she put Henry in his seat, and followed Dave to the kitchen. She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. She felt safe, warm and comfortable with him, reveled in the feel of it. She knew that the week ahead was going to be difficult, she figured that's why Dave just wanted to be with her. So, she returned the favor, just wanting the opportunity to touch and hold him. She kissed the back of his neck, and was rewarded with him spinning around and pulling her into a breath taking lip lock. The man could kiss, she'd give him that. No wonder he had such a reputation with the ladies, because she'd been completely satisfied for the better part of a week. And apparently, all this was hers to keep. Chuckling, she broke the embrace and headed back for Henry. She wanted to go for a walk outside again, the dread of the new work week filling her. So much beauty here, compared to the horror they dealt with. No wonder Dave loved it here.

So, they spent the day puttering around the property, content just to be with each other. Toward mid afternoon, she figured she should start repacking the car with everything she'd brought. That's when Dave asked her to stay the extra night.

"Hon, just stay here the night. We'll get up earlier in the morning, no one will be any the wiser for where you are coming from. You go to work and you can take everything home afterwards. That way, we stretch the weekend out for just a little bit longer. And I'll be behind you on the way into work tomorrow morning. What do you say?" he asked with hope in his voice.

JJ thought about it, the opportunity to have another night with him. If she wasn't careful, she'd never leave him. Not that that was a bad thing, she just didn't want to be too dependent on someone else so soon. She'd gone from Will to Dave in less than a blink of an eye.

"I'm not sure, Dave. It will be a long day for Henry if I wake him up to early." regret in her voice.

"JJ, he'll be fine. The daycare will put him down for a nap, he'll be fine. Please stay. We'll be separated most of the week anyway. One more night, we'll pack your car for the most part now, so you won't have to do it in the morning." Dave pleaded.

JJ looked at him, the Legendary Profiler pleading with her. Knowing how forceful and strong he was for the most part, she took a bit of pride in the fact that Dave wanted her and would do anything to have her here. Where Will's pleading had seemed petulant and whiny, Dave's pleading was heartfelt and warm. He made her feel wanted, but she also knew that if she said no, he wouldn't make her feel guilty about it. That's where a difference lay between the two men.

Finally, she relented, but made him pack the car with her. They finished the task quickly, and then went and curled up on the porch swing together. Henry was down for a nap, so they sat there swinging, just holding hands. He burst out laughing at this, "We're like an old married couple, swinging away on our porch".

JJ smiled and punched him the arm "And what would be wrong with that, Mr. Rossi.? I would be very happy to swing on this porch with you until we are old and gray!"

"In case you hadn't noticed, hon, I'm already old with some grey. You have a lot of years ahead of you yet. I just don't want you to ever think you've missed something by being with a guy so much older than you are."

"Dave Rossi, look at me! I've been with a younger guy, and I have to tell you, you beat him hands down. Do not tell me that just because you are older that I'm missing out on something. Being with you, I've had so much more than I ever did. Do not use age as an excuse, I won't have it." JJ said forcefully.

Taking pride in the fact that she seemed to love him just as he was, he kissed her. Together, they would face the work week, but for now, they had each other, and that was all that mattered to both of them.


	15. Chapter 15

They arrived at work separately on Monday, and proceeded to play the game of being "just co-workers", giving nothing away that they'd spent the entire weekend together. It was all business for JJ, this was a game she was determined to win, and for Prentiss and the rest to lose. After depositing Henry in the daycare, she headed to the BAU headquarters, seeing Reid and Morgan squabbling in their brotherly way already, and Prentiss laughing at the situation. Saying "hi" to them all, she slipped into her office and began searching through case files, looking for the next disaster that needed their attention. Her attention was so great, she barely heard the knock on her door, until she looked up and seen one Penelope Garcia enter her abode. Penelope took a seat, and JJ realized quickly that the others had gotten Penelope to come in and be their nosy Nelly.

"JJ, my love, I tried to get ahold of you this weekend, and got nadda, zip, zilch. Where ever could you have been?" Penelope, in her not so subtle way, asked.

"Garcia, my dear, I got out of town. Not that it's anyone's concern, but Henry and I headed to my mom's for the weekend. I needed to get out of the apartment for a little bit." JJ outright lied to her friend. "Oh, and could you help me with something? I want to look for a new place to live. I just don't want to be there anymore. Do you think you could help me find something?"

Eying JJ suspiciously, Garcia knew when she was being put off the trail. But, being the mother hen she could be, she agreed to help JJ in her pursuit of a new abode.

"Do you have any particular type of place in mind? Another apartment? House? Condo? I can find all the dirt I can on a landlord, get you a killer rate on a place. I can put my expertise to good work for you!" Penelope excitedly said.

"I'm thinking a house, Pen. I've had enough of apartment living for now. I really would like something with a backyard for Henry. He may not need it too much now, but he will as he grows. Do you think you can scope something out for me?" JJ said.

"You let me work my magic for you, sweetie, I'll have you into a new home in no time at all!" Penelope practically bubbled.

"Just as long as it's bigger than the little place I've been in, and it has a backyard, I'll be happy. Now, do you think you could get the ones who sent you all in here to back off? I didn't do anything special this weekend. And you can tell them all that!" JJ said firmly.

"Come on, sweetie, you know they all care for you. But yes, I will tell them you gave me no information." Garcia blushing as she admitted she was their envoy.

"I know they mean well, Pen. But, if and when I do move on from Will, you will be the first to know. Did I not tell you last time about Will, long before the rest?"

"JJ, hon, we all knew way before you told us about Will. You do work with profilers, you know? It just takes you forever to admit to any kind of relationship with anyone. Don't be surprised if we do figure it out before you admit to anything again. And you know, it's because we love you and want you to be happy. We knew for the longest time you weren't happy with Will. Whether you hide it from us, you aren't quite the closed book you like to think you are."

JJ stared at Penelope. Everyone knew about her? They figured everything out long before she'd admitted anything? Damn, why do I work with profilers, she thought to herself.

" Pen, I promise you will know. And then you are free to broadcast it to the rest of them. And since they sent you in to scope me out, how about you and me have some fun with them? Tell them I got a sitter for Henry and went and had a wild weekend, don't even remember the guys name." JJ laughed when she said that. It was half true, but she did remember the guys name she had the wild weekend with, and Henry had been there.

"Well, my,my, little JJ! You aren't quite as straight-laced as you like to appear!" Garcia laughed, up for a game against her co-workers. "As long as you pinkie-swear that when you nail Rossi, I'm the first to know" Penelope revealed more than she'd intended to.

Going white, JJ stumbled over her next words, sputtering out "Rossi, Dave Rossi? Why would you ever say that? Are you out of your mind? Why would I ever do that? What makes you think I'd want him? There are fraternization policies out there, co-workers shouldn't be together!"

"JJ, I've been with Kevin for a year now, and there have been no consequences, so don't bring up fraternization policies to me. It's possible to have a relationship and work together, so don't give me that. And as for me knowing about the little thing you two have for each other, well, just because I'm not a profiler does not mean I do not pick up on things. And you and him were giving out vibes all over the place last week. They do not call me the Oracle of Quantico for nothing" Penelope smiled triumphantly.

"Garcia, I'm not talking about this anymore. You think what you want, there is and will be nothing happening in the near future between me and Rossi. I will not be just another one of his playthings. His reputation scares the hell out of me." JJ partially told the truth. She was with Rossi, but his past did scare her, no matter how close they'd become in the last week. She only hoped that Garcia could keep her mouth shut on that last point. She didn't want Rossi to ever feel like she didn't love him, but she couldn't not admit that his past scared her.

"JJ, you don't know what's in front of you. That man has chased your tail since the day he walked into the BAU. I have it on good authority he hasn't dated another woman since he started back here. I think he's just saving himself for you" Penelope giggled.

"Pen, no more. If you want to keep talking about this, come by tonight, we'll have a girls night. But I will not discuss Dave Rossi's lovelife while he's sitting in his office, right near us." JJ was desperate to get rid of Penelope now.

"Fine JJ, but be warned, you think your embarrassed here, you wait til we're alone. You will practically die." Penelope laughed wickedly on her way out JJ's door.

JJ sat there, confused. How the hell did Garcia figure these things out? And why did she willingly invite her to her place tonight? Where did her plan go to not have everyone figure anything out? She placed her head in her hands, not believing what had just happened.

When Penelope left JJ's office, she went to her anxiously awaiting comrades and told her the news she'd plucked out of JJ. Morgan expressed disbelief that JJ would pick up any guy and have a round or two with him, so he called bull on that story. Prentiss snickered at that, concurring with him. They decided to see what Rossi had to say about things, trying to stir something up. So, round two for the profilers began to take place. One Agent Derek Morgan, went towards Dave Rossi's office. The matchmaking profilers had figured out there was an attraction between Rossi and Jareau, and were determined to throw them together. And if they couldn't figure it out on their own, well, agents Morgan, Garcia and Prentiss were determined to beat the two of them over the head and get them together. Knocking on Rossi's door, Morgan was told to come in. He entered, looking at how relaxed and in a good mood the man sitting behind the desk was. Rossi was a moody man at times, but for now, he seemed to be in a great mood.

"Rossi, my man, I've come to tell you something. I have it on good authority that JJ is over Will pretty quick. She apparently had a great time this weekend, forgetting her baby daddy with some man she picked up. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Derek relayed casually.

Watching Rossi take in this information, Derek almost laughed. He could tell that Rossi was struggling to stay calm. Rossi finally let out, "Well, she is a single woman now. I find it hard to believe she'd pick up any man and bed him so quickly, but that's just me. I don't think JJ is quite that loose. But other than what you've told me, I wouldn't know anything about Agent Jareau's extracurricular activities."

Morgan readily agreed "Man, I didn't believe it when I was told it either. I think that JJ needs a good man to love her, I don't think she'd just pick anyone up. But I heard that you two were becoming quite close, especially when you looked after her at her place the other night. I like that you are looking out for our little JJ" Morgan's big brother streak came through again.

"I just wanted to say, if and when JJ is ready for a relationship, I think you should go for it. It's not like you haven't secretly wanted her. I mean, most of the team knows you have had feelings for her for a long time. You've just been a decent man. Don't fumble the ball now, it's in your court."

All Rossi could do was stare at Morgan. How the hell did this man know so much? And since when did everyone pick up on the fact that something was happening between JJ and him? His mouth fell open, not knowing quite what to say to Morgan. Finally, he gathered his wits about him and calmly said "If and when, Morgan, JJ will be the first to know how I feel for her. And I told you the other day, any time that we do start a relationship, I will do nothing to hurt her. If and when we start a relationship, you don't need to worry, I'm sure you will all dig the information up. Til then, I don't think we should speculate about it. But I thank you for your "permission" to date her."

Morgan watched how carefully Rossi let out what he did. Accepting what he'd been told, he stood up to go. Before he did, he turned around to say one more thing. "Just be sure not to screw it up, Dave. That girl needs someone to trust her, I think she didn't have a lot of that with Will."

At that, he turned and went out the door, leaving a very confused and befuddled profiler sitting at his desk.


	16. Chapter 16

JJ made it though the rest of the workday. Although the thought of not spending time with Dave tonight was hard, it was better to get Garcia off her back for awhile, especially if the woman was going to help her apartment/house/condo shop. And against her better judgement, she thought maybe she should invite Prentiss over. Clearing it with Garcia first, she asked Emily over the girls night too. At 4:00 p.m, she started getting ready for the end of the day, clearing things up, so she could head out by 5. Dave and her had avoided each other for most of the day, and it had been difficult. So many times she wanted some form of contact with him, but didn't dare. However, given the lateness of the day, and the fact he didn't know Garcia and Prentiss were heading to her place after work, she decided to let him know that fact, in case he decided to call later. She picked up her cell, and rang his number, just wanting to hear his voice. The familiar timber of his voice made her smile and she said hello. She heard the smile in his voice, and that made her smile all the more.

"Hon, I just wanted to give you a heads up, Pene and Emily are coming over tonight. Apparently I'm having a girls night with them." she said, with some regret in her voice.

"That's fine, babe. Apparently I'm going barhopping with Morgan and Reid. I got cornered by the two of them earlier, and they think I'm overworked and need to relax by going out. How I got roped into this, I'm not exactly sure." Rossi groaned.

"They've got Reid on this now? They will stop at nothing, won't they? Apparently, I'm getting pointers tonight on how to land you now that I'm a free woman. Apparently, you've been sending out signals I haven't been picking up and everyone else has." JJ chuckled.

"You didn't seem to have any problem picking up the signals I was putting out this weekend, darling." he laughed.

"Wiseass. You know what I mean." JJ retorted into the phone.

Over his phone, she heard someone knock on his door, and reluctantly let him go. "I'll call you later, okay? After Prentiss and Garcia leave. I just like hearing the sound of your voice."

"I look forward to it. Talk to you then." he said in a professional manner, given that someone was standing in his office.

JJ continued working til it was time to go home, collected her son, and escaped from the BAU. She didn't even say goodbye to Rossi, and that bothered her. Hiding things was turning out to be more difficult this time around. Henry and her quickly made it home, JJ just needing a few moments to be herself, without being watched. She played with Henry while supper cooked, so glad to be able to hold him. She may not have loved Will anymore, but she'd never trade this boy for anything. He was a light in her life, something that gave her joy, which was a rare commodity for her. Soon, supper was ready, and she fed Henry as well. Not too long afterwards, the doorbell rang, and her guests had arrived. Letting them in, Garcia grabbed Henry out of his mama's arms, cooing and gushing to her godson. She really did love him. Before too long, Henry was ready for bed though, and the three women set about their girls night, popping a movie into the dvd player. About 15 minutes in, the other two women turned to JJ and started their purpose for coming over that night.

"JJ, you do know that Rossi wants you, right? Penelope told me she clued you into this fact this morning." Prentiss said with a huge grin on her face.

Open mouthed, shocked that Emily was so forthright, JJ stuttered "She might have mentioned something, but come on, Emily. This is Rossi we are talking about here. The playboy. The man every woman wants to catch. The one who's been staring at my ass since he walked into the BAU? That man?"

"You protest too much, my dear." Garcia chimed in. "In case you haven't noticed, it's only _been_ your ass he's been staring at. My sources have told me that the man has had no life since he came back to the BAU. I tell you, he's saving himself for you." she laughed, seeing JJ blush 3 shades of red at her comments.

"You need a plan to catch him. We know you've been over Will for far longer than you've realized. Unconsciously, you've been flirting with Rossi a lot the last 3 months. You just need to move in and catch him. We're here to teach you how to do that." Prentiss came out with.

All JJ could do was stare. These people were profilers, convinced they knew everything from a person's actions, but hadn't caught on to the fact that she'd already captured Rossi. However, this gave JJ the perfect opportunity to spend time with Dave, in the pretense of catching him, and have the full approval of her coworkers. Not only would they think they were helping her land him, she could actually not have to hide at the office. Besides, even though she generally liked to keep her personal life quiet, that apparently was not going to be an option anymore. They had the scent of something, and they were not going to give it up. Any chance of keeping a relationship on quiet was out the window. So, JJ made the decision to go for broke.

"Alright then, miss and miss smartypants, how do you propose I go about "capturing" Mr. Rossi? And what makes you so sure he wants me anyway? I have a son, you know. I have no idea how he feels about children, and in case you didn't notice, Henry and I are a package deal. And how am I suppose to get to know him if I have Henry with me all the time?"

"That's where we come in. If you get a date with him, we're your babysitters. He's my godson, I am more than happy to look after him if it gets you your man." Penelope couldn't keep from bubbling, frankly she was surprised JJ had caved so easily.

Emily spoke next. "JJ, you're going to have to change a little in the office. You have to learn to flirt with the man. And it wouldn't hurt to unbutton your shirt an extra button when you are around him. I guarantee, if he wasn't looking before, he will be after. Since you had the baby, you dress like a nun. Just because you're someone's mother doesn't mean your style and sexiness has to go out the window. Getting Dave to look shouldn't be a problem anyway. He certainly likes your butt."

JJ hit Prentiss in the arm at that. "I will not show my goods off just to land a man."

"Listen, do you want to do this or not? It doesn't hurt to show a little extra, if it captures his attention." Emily objected.

"Now, now girls, no fighting. We are on a mission to land Miss JJ her man. We need solidarity in the ranks here" Garcia giggled.

"And if you didn't like scotch before, I suggest you acquire a taste in it. It's the man's favorite drink"

By the end of the night, JJ's head was spinning. Basically, these two women were telling her to get to work and wear the man down, he'd be hers in no time. Shake her tail and he'd come running. Frankly, JJ thought that Emily and Penelope were losing their minds, but also thought it might be easier to just go along with the plan. Figuring out how to balance the fact she was already in a relationship with Rossi and pretending to start one was going to take some doing, even though it would be fun. She just hoped her two "matchmakers" would forgive her for not telling them about her relationship with Dave I to begin with. They finished up with the movie, and Garcia and Prentiss were out the door. Waiting 15 minutes so that no one showed back up at her door, she rang Rossi's number, and was rewarded by a "hello sweetheart" that seemed to indicate he was alone too.

"How'd the barhopping go? Pick up any women I should know about?" she joked.

"Not a chance, my dear. I wouldn't touch anything else out there with a ten-foot pole. Why would I ruin something like what I have?" Dave remarked.

Warmed by his answer, she decided to confide the plan to him, the one that she'd helped spend the evening concocting. "Well, apparently, I'm too uptight, and need to up my game. I have to do everything with in my power to let you know I'm now interested in you. Do you think I can do it? And are you going to be able to pick up the signals I'm putting out at work tomorrow?"

"Babe, I can figure out anything you are putting out. Bring it on!" Dave chuckled.

"Again, with being the wiseass, Dave. I'm being serious here!" JJ returned.

"You know me, babe, I'm good with the oneliners." Dave said.

"Well, you might think this is funny, but you know what? All this means we don't have to be quite as careful at work anymore. I'm suppose to flirt with you to catch your attention. They are going to babysit Henry for me, so we can go out on dates. How are we ever going to live with ourselves?" JJ was more amused than anything.

"I think I can live just fine with whatever plan they think they've got going. Reid and Morgan seem to be in on it too. They find it amusing that I don't seem to be going after you now that Will is out of the picture. They were giving me pointers all night, as well as warnings not to hurt you in the process. Talk about mixed signals from these guys."

"Well, I don't care if they are putting out signals, just as long as you are picking up mine." she giggled into the phone.

"Well, let the games begin then, my dear. I'll see you at work tomorrow, I'll be ready for whatever you have planned that won't get us fired by Hotch. Just remember, no flirting in front of him. This might be a game, but I prefer to keep my privates, if you know what I mean. And I'm sure he'd have them if he thinks we're going to mess up his BAU."

"I know that Dave, we'll be careful on that end. But I'm just playing the game the rest of the team seems to want to play. I'll see you tomorrow, then. I miss you, it's going to be hard to sleep without you by my side tonight. I've grown to used to it way too soon." she said with sadness in her tone.

"Me too, hon, me too. I'm just a phone call away. See you in the morning."

They both hung up then, looking forward to the games tomorrow.


	17. Chapter 17

As JJ got ready for work the next day, she carefully considered what she should dress in. Emily was right in one respect, she had been dressing differently since she'd had the baby. Buttons up, no low cut blouses, tight skirts gone. At first it was because she was disguising the baby weight she'd put on, but she'd long since lost that, and was just dressing that way out of routine. Emily was also right, some of it had to do with being someone's mom now. So, she searched her closet, looking for anything that might meet the approval of her two appointed cupids, the ones determined to make sure she landed one David Rossi. Finally deciding on a white button down shirt, with a snug fit, and a pencil skirt, she put on a camisole and continued to get dressed. The buttons might be undone, but she didn't want anyone seeing her bra, or her breasts. Grabbing a quick breakfast and getting Henry ready ate up the rest of her time, and with a quick look in the mirror, she hoped it was a go. She also hoped she could keep from bursting out laughing with the matchmaking attempts her friends were making. Deciding to join rather than beat them at their game was proving to be a lot more fun than she'd imagined.

Most of the team was already there when she arrived for work, and needing a caffeine fix, she headed for the coffee machine. As she was preparing her coffee, one David Rossi decided he needed a cup of coffee also and he sidled up beside her, being as innocent as possible. It didn't matter though, JJ was already turning red as she realized she had three sets of eyes peering at their interaction. Deciding to bite the bullet, she smiled brightly at Dave, and asked him how he'd been lately. Walking away from the peering eyes, heading up the steps towards their offices, their every move was being followed. Once they'd separated and JJ escaped to her office, she burst out laughing. Her matchmakers were watching every single move. They had to do something to make the team think the ploys were working, so she phoned Dave and planned for him to ask her out to lunch within hearing distance of certain members of the team. With any luck it would make them back off for a little bit.

Fate intervened in the form of a new case that needed attention, so JJ sauntered down to the rest of the team, and called everyone to the briefing room. Getting the rest of the teams thoughts on whether the team was needed out in Oregon, on a case involving 3 missing women who's disappearance were strikingly similar in manner, looks and execution. Two bodies had been found so far, giving rise to the fact that the next woman that was missing had either not been found yet, or maybe an outside chance she was still alive. The police requesting them to come because this was inter-jurisdictional, and they needed the BAU to provide a profile and step in. Presenting the case in her usual efficient manner, it was no time til the team sat at the table to discuss it. It was finally decided to fly out there immediately, so there went JJ's plans for lunch with Dave, but things would still work out. She'd just make sure she sat beside him on the plane and do some light flirting there. Nothing to interfere with work, but enough to make her matchmakers think that things were going according to plan. They boarded the plane, and seated themselves next to one another immediately. Everyone else was seated, and the plane prepared for take off.

Keeping their voices hushed, JJ and Rossi spent the better part of the trip whispering amongst themselves. Hoping no one could here them, JJ managed to commute to him that she'd booked rooms for them with an interconnecting door. Smiling his surprise at her, Dave was about to comment on that when Prentiss and Morgan plunked themselves down across from them. No time for flirting now, Hotch began to discuss the case, giving out assignments for when they arrived. He assigned Reid and Morgan to go with Rossi to where the victims's bodies had been found, JJ and Prentiss to come with him to the headquarters and begin to set up everything they needed to make a temporary base for the team. All work, they set about their tasks when they landed, not getting a chance to even say hello to one another til late in the day. The team was exhausted, but needed to eat, and with no new leads, and the profile of the killer having been given, they all set out to a Chinese restaurant to grab something to eat. JJ had delighted in making fun of Spence, as he still had not mastered the use of chopsticks, and was demanding to know why someone had picked a place like this to go, when they knew he couldn't use the utensils. This had resulted in some good natured ribbing from Prentiss, she hadn't realized that Reid couldn't use chopsticks, and it was her fault they'd gone to the Chinese place.

All of this lightened everyone's mood considerably, and soon it was time to head back to the hotel, get some sleep and prepare for the day ahead. The team split and headed for their own rooms, although two in particular weren't quite prepared to call it a day quite yet. They entered their separate rooms, and after locking their room doors, they both rushed over to open the connecting doors. Both stood there for a minute, giggling like teenagers, before they crashed into each other, no physical contact for two days made it seem like two years. It was a race between the two of them to see who could disrobe the other first, and as usual, Rossi succeeded in getting her clothes off first. After that, JJ couldn't remember much else, just how good it felt to be near him, and with him again. She'd grown addicted to him and fast, considering it was just a week ago they'd begun this. Now, she never wanted to be away from him.

Laying next to him, her head on his chest, she listened to his quietly beating heart, and realized she was content. She was almost to the point that she didn't care if the team knew about the two of them. She decided to question him, wanting to get to know him better.

"Why did you stay with the BAU, after we solved that case that haunted you for so long? I know that coming back was motivated by wanting to solve it, but why did you stay? You have a successful life outside of here, why stay?" she asked, full of curiousity.

"I realized that I could still help out in this world, still be of use. Yes, I've had successes, but it pales sometimes when you think of all the things I could do to help out. Besides, the unit was a man down, and I thought Hotch could use the help. The man is overworked as it is."

JJ laughed at that, agreeing. "I really thought things would work out between him and Haley. He loves that little boy so much. I think that's why I split with Will. I know the job is not going to change. And if he wants someone there, every night, he had to find someone else."

"God knows I'm no angel, JJ. But I can promise you this much, I'm not going anywhere. I know what the job is like, maybe that helps, but I know you give as much as you can."

Reaching in for a kiss, both of them jumped straight up when there was a knock on Rossi's room door. Quietly as possible, JJ searched for her clothes and escaped to her room, closing the connecting door behind her. It wasn't quite the way she invisioned the evening ending, but she didn't want anyone to discover her in Rossi's room. She didn't listen to who had called upon Rossi, instead heading for the shower and getting ready for bed. Just because they'd been interrupted didn't mean that they wouldn't be sleeping together the rest of the night, and if Dave had his way, she'd never get to bed. She opened her connecting door again, leaving it that way, knowing that Dave would join her when he could.

JJ dozed off to sleep while waiting for him, awakening only when she felt him get into bed with her. He pulled her close, and they drifted off to sleep, tired of the day, needing sleep. Tomorrow would come soon enough, but being with each other helped to keep the world at bay.


	18. Chapter 18

JJ awakened, pinned to the bed by Rossi's strong arm holding her close to him. She scooted backwards even closer to him, loving his arms around her. However, the day ahead of them was not going to help with the morning activities that had occupied them at Little Creek, so JJ reluctantly got out of bed and headed for the shower, leaving a sleeping Dave. As much as she would have loved to have awakened him, they didn't have the time for those activities, they'd slept late as it was. Quickly showering, then wrapping herself in a towel and heading back to the room, she brushed her hair as she walked. Dave was awake now, propping himself up on one elbow, watching her walk into the room.

"Do you like what you see?" JJ giggled at him.

"Very much. I'd like to see it even closer up. Do you think I could get a close up?" he asked suggestively.

"If you play your cards right, you will." she replied. Dropping the towel, giving Dave a bit of a show,

she proceeded to get dressed before going over to Dave and being enveloped in a huge kiss. He groaned out at her "Are you trying to kill me when you do stuff like that?"

"You're of no use to me dead, Rossi. I like you very much alive." and they proceeded to kiss again, til JJ got a look at the clock and realized that they were running out of time, they had to meet the team shortly. She pushed herself away from him, and sent him to the showers, hurrying to finish readying for the day.

When he was finished, she kissed him deeply, then made him a deal.

"If you are a very good boy today, we'll partake in some activities tonight that will make you forget that you didn't get your way this morning. Deal?"

Holding her close, he said "Deal. And I'll make sure you keep this deal." kissing her deeply. Hurriedly, finishing her makeup, and grabbing her stuff, they each left by their respective doors, keeping up the charade, for now.

After meeting the rest of the team for breakfast, they headed for the police station. The team caught a lucky break, having a potential witness to the latest abduction, and the four men headed out, leaving JJ and Emily behind. Emily tried joking with JJ, asking how the pursuit of Rossi was going, but JJ brushed it off, not wanting to talk about it here. Emily let it go, for now, but intended to question JJ further. She'd seen how the two of them had acted at breakfast, and would dare say the flirting was going very well between the two agents. Everything seemed to be going fine, until they got word through the rest of the officers that their team had come under fire, and there was word of a casualty in the bunch, and one of their agents had been hit. JJ's face turned a pale shade, and Emily and her raced from the station, determined to get to their team. Once they arrived, JJ leaped from the SUV, racing to where their team was situated. She found Hotch first, he had a bandage over his one eye. Looking around she located Morgan, then Reid. However, she didn't see Rossi. Holding back a cry, when she seen a body bag, she almost panicked. The other agents, seeing where she was looking, quickly reassured her. That was the suspect, he'd been caught, taken a hostage and started firing on the agents. Rossi had been hit, in the arm it was believed, but he'd also managed to fire off a shot that took the suspect down. He'd been transported to the hospital, he'd been losing a lot of blood.

JJ almost went out of her mind. _Her _Dave was injured , no one seemed to know how bad, and she knew she had to get to him. She needed to see him, make sure he was okay. Prentiss recognized the desperate look in JJ's eyes and quickly said she would take JJ to the hospital. The entire way to the hospital, JJ fretted and worried, thinking about wasted time, not taking a chance til so recently. And now, she might not know the happiness she'd experienced lately. It might be over before they'd had a chance.

They raced to the emergency entrance, identifying themselves as FBI agents, and wanted to know the status of their colleague who had been brought in. Told he was in emergency surgery, the two agents stationed themselves outside the operating room, waiting to be told more. In what seemed like an eternity, but was really only a couple of hours, a doctor came out, telling them they'd had to remove a bullet from Agent Rossi's shoulder, that he'd lost a lot of blood, but he would be okay. He was in recovery now, but would be moved to his own room shortly. The doctor informed him that he'd be in room 312, if they cared to wait near there, he'd be in it shortly. When he was, he was only allowed one visitor at a time, he was heavily drugged at the moment and needed to rest to recuperate.

Dragging Emily with her, JJ made their way to where Room 312 was, planting herself on the floor outside the room. Curiousity filled Emily, wondering why JJ was taking this so hard. Flirting didn't equal a relationship with, why was she going off her stick so badly? Deciding now was not the time to ask, but knowing she'd question JJ later, she let it go. They sat there when Dave was wheeled into the room. JJ almost burst out crying, seeing how pale and still Dave was. Emily hugged her, and then they waited some more. It was almost more than JJ could take. Finally the nurses and doctor came out, repeating the warning of only one visitor, and then left.

JJ didn't even ask Emily, she took it upon herself to walk into that room first. She stopped inside the door, letting it close, peering at the man on the bed. Stifling a cry, she walked towards him, relief filling her that he was alive. She watched his even breathing, and finally spoke her voice catching as she did so.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she breathed into his ear as she laid her head onto his good shoulder.

"I'm so sorry. None of this should have happened to you! Nobody should have hurt you!" she said. Pulling back to look him in the eyes, remind herself he was real; that he was okay.

"Don't be sorry for anything. I would have done it again in a heartbeat. He was holding that woman hostage. We weren't going to lose another victim to that monster. I should have ducked and rolled, but he caught me. I think I got a shot in, took him out, but the details are hazy." he croaked out.

Kissing him gently on the lips, she simply was relieved that the man she loved was alive. She'd been so afraid he was dead, but he survived. Noticing how worried she was, Dave tried to defuse the fear in the room by saying "I guess are planned activities for tonight are on hold for now?"

She chuckled for the first time in hours, looking at the incorrigible man on the bed. "They are postponed, but if you are a very good boy and listen to your doctors and heal incredibly fast, I'll more than make it up to you."

"Agreed, JJ, agreed." Rossi gave her a thin smile. The painkillers were kicking in, and JJ knew that Prentiss wanted in to see him still. Kissing him goodbye, promising she'd be back shortly, she left. She told Prentiss to head in, but warned he was kind of out of it. Meeting the rest of the team in the lobby, she gave them the room number and the warning about visitors.

JJ needed to escape the hospital for a little bit, so headed outside to call Garcia and tell her that Rossi had been shot. She got Penelope to go down to the daycare to get Henry for a minute, she badly needed to just hear her son, telling her that life was okay. She soon heard her son's excited squees and giggles, and after thanking Garcia, she hung up and had a cry. Finally pulling herself together, she went back inside. She was going to stay at the hospital with Rossi, and Emily gave her the keys for the SUV, so she could make her way back from the hospital later. She said goodbye to the team as they left, all of them just accepting that JJ had taken upon herself to look after Rossi.

Dave had fallen back asleep, so she pulled up a chair, taking his hand in hers, and kissed it. She whispered "I love you" to him, before drifting off into a nap, the day having taken it's toll on her as well.


	19. Chapter 19

JJ headed for the hotel around 8:30 that night. The hospital had kicked her out, visiting hours being over, but she hadn't wanted to leave. Forced out, she'd had no choice, so went back to her room. She had a quick shower and readied for bed, when somebody knocked on her door. Peering through the peephole, she seen Prentiss standing there. Sighing, she stood back, and allowed her fellow agent into the room.

Getting right to the point, Emily asked "Do you want to tell me exactly why you freaked out so bad that it was Rossi that was shot?"

"Em, I'm tired, I want to go to bed. The man is a friend, that's all. He's become a close friend, though. And you are all right, I think I do feel something for him. And the whole thing could have disappeared, just like that before I even get a chance to explore it. It hurt in here so much when I found out it was him that was shot." she said, clutching her chest.

"JJ, how long have you known you felt something for Rossi? Before you broke up with Will? Just now? How long have you had feelings for him?"

"I don't know, Em, I don't know. And you all trying to throw us together, it's just made everything come to the surface. Now, I can't even think straight about him." she sat down on the bed, willing herself not to cry.

"He'll be fine, JJ, he will. But I think if you have feelings for him, you are going to have to act on it. Don't sit back and let him go. You'll regret it if you do. Don't worry about what anyone thinks if it's too close to your breakup. It's nobody's business but yours. But don't let it go."

At that, Emily got up to leave, giving JJ a quick hug before going out the door. JJ climbed into bed, and let the tears start to fall. She could have lost him, but she didn't. He'd be there tomorrow, he would, but it still hurt like hell that he had been injured. She'd almost been out of her mind before she'd learned it was a shoulder injury, and he wasn't going to die. There relationship wasn't just about sex, she'd told him she loved him. It had taken forever for her to say that to Will. Here, a week into their relationship, she knew she never wanted to be with anyone else. She loved him more than she could say, and knew that this was it as far as she was concerned. She was Dave Rossi's permanently, and she didn't know how she'd gotten sucked in so fast. She drifted into a light sleep, waking immediately upon hearing the phone ring. Checking her cell, she seen it was the hospital calling.

"Agent Jareau, this is Samuel Miller Hospital calling, we have an Agent Rossi under our care. Anyway, he's awakened, and he's become quite vocal about you being here. Do you think you could come back to the hospital, so we can get him quietened down? We're afraid he's going to rip his stitches and start bleeding again."

"I'll be there as soon as possible, tell him I'm on my way." JJ replied quickly.

"Come through the emergency entrance, the main doors of the hospital will be locked at this time. Tell the nurse, and she'll let us know you are on your way. Thank you so much." The doctor on the other end sounded relieved, so JJ imagined that Rossi was behaving much worse than the doctor let on.

Dressing quickly, grabbing the keys, she was out the door, racing there as quickly as she could. She hadn't wanted to leave his side in the first place, she'd been forced out. She was glad that Rossi was giving them a hard time. Arriving there quickly, she informed the nurse of her purpose, and headed up to Dave's room. As she entered the hallway, she heard Dave still arguing with the doctor's, and smiled. Opening the room door, he looked her way, and almost immediately quietened down. JJ walked over to him and took his hand in hers, and looked at the chagrined doctor who was finally able to give Rossi some more pain medication. JJ took off her coat and took her seat beside him, holding his hand to her cheek. He stroked her cheek with one finger, looking at her all the while.

"Why did you leave here?" he croaked out.

"They made me go, practically carried me to the doors." she whispered.

"Don't leave anymore, hon, okay? I just need you with me, I don't care how it looks to anyone anymore. I love you, JJ."

JJ could tell that the painkillers were starting to have some effect on him, so she promised him she'd be here when he woke up the next time. They'd have to physically remove her from this chair if they wanted her to go.

"I love you too, sweetheart. And you're right, I don't care anymore either." she agreed with him.

Getting up, she scooched in close to him on the bed, his good arm wrapped around her. That was how they spent the rest of the night, undisturbed except for the occasional nurse who came in to check his vitals and how his pain meds were holding up. When morning came, JJ slipped out of the bed to stretch. It had been a long time since she'd doubled up on a single bed, and having to be careful not to hurt him wasn't conducive to a comfortable sleep. But the sleep was better than what she'd have gotten back at the hotel, worried about him. Looking at him laying there, she couldn't help but smile. The man was so used to getting his way everywhere, even at a hospital recovering from a gunshot wound.

Before long, Dave was stirring for the day, and the doctor and nurses were back, checking him over. Overall, they were very pleased with his progress, despite his behavior the night before. In fact, they thought if he behaved himself for another day, and rested at the hospital, they'd release him to fly back with the rest of the BAU. JJ chimed in after the doctor left that if Rossi wanted his special treat once he got rested up, he better start co-operating and calming himself down, not acting like had the night previously.

"I wanted you here, and they had kicked you out. As far as I'm concerned, I needed you here, they had no business getting rid of you." he'd come back with.

"Well, you won't get rid of me again. I'm here to stay." JJ replied.

"Good, as long as we have it straight." he relaxed back into the pillows.

JJ sat down on the bed beside him. "Do you think everyone knows about us? I reacted pretty badly when I found out it was you that was shot. It almost killed me." she clutched his hand again.

"I had so many regrets that I didn't realize things sooner, that I wasted a lot of time. And here, we're finally together, and you went and got shot."

"Jen, hon, it's not like I went out of my way to take a bullet. It's not high on my list of things to do. It happened, but I'm here, and I don't intend to go anywhere, but home with you. I'm thinking we could get you a cute little nurses uniform and you could attend to me." he said suggestively.

"You know, Rossi, if you weren't bandaged up like that, I'd slug you on the shoulder. I don't do nurses uniforms." her expression belied her tone though, so he knew she was joking with him, her humor in good spirits.

"But I'd be your patient in dire need of your ministrations! What about the sponge baths you can give me? You could be my naughty nurse!"

"Give it up, Dave. When you get home, I'll look after you, but there won't be a naughty nurse. You'll get well first, then we'll see if anyone will be naughty." she wiggled her eyebrows as she spoke.

Dave seen her suggestive eyebrow wiggle, and burst out laughing, which hurt his stitches, bringing a grim look to his face. JJ was immediately concerned for him, asked if she could do anything to help. He said no, and at that she leaned in and kissed him. He couldn't wait to get out of this hospital and this town, he wanted his own bed, with JJ by his side. And she wanted nothing more to take care of him, too.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N Thanks to all who are continuing reading this, I really appreciate it. Also, thanks for the reviews also, it makes my day! Special thanks to Tracia, Tonnie and Susan they keep me going! As always, not my show, I'm just borrowing CM for a little bit!**

Rossi was released from the hospital the next day. Given a prescription for pain killers, requiring someone to look after him when they got back to Quantico, the team took off and headed for home. JJ hovered over him like a mother hen, and surprisingly the team stood back and just took it all in. They didn't comment anymore about it, because whatever was happening wasn't going to be changed by them all grilling JJ about things.

Dave dozed on the plane ride, JJ watching over him, and the team watching her. They seen how much the petite blond was fretting over him, and to an extent, it amused them. Morgan and Emily discussed it quietly in the back of the plane, away from JJ's ears.

"Does JJ even realize she's gone for him, hook, line and sinker?" Prentiss asked Morgan.

"Well, if she hasn't, it won't be too long. Prying her away from him is going to take a miracle." Morgan replied.

"I wonder if Garcia knows anything. JJ always confides in her. Do you think you could get your "baby girl" to get some dish for us?"

"Aw, Em, you know I hate to do that! I don't want Garcia thinking I'm using her!" Morgan protested.

"Yeah, well, she's are inside track to JJ. JJ did admit to me the other night she has feelings for Rossi, after he was shot. I thought she was going to have a conniption, waiting for the doctor to come out. And she wasn't happy they made her leave the hospital. They are closer, much closer than we thought though. You don't act that way over a potential suitor. You act that way over someone you are already close to." Emily speculated.

"Em, maybe we should just leave it alone for now. JJ will tell us in good time. I hope she doesn't wait a year like she did with Will though. Getting it out in the open would be easier on her. And I'm willing to bet money that we'll learn something after she looks after him for the next couple of days. I heard her tell Garcia she'd be there as soon as they could after we landed, they're heading out to Little Creek when we touch down. Looking after both of them, she'll have quite an experience. She'll want to come back to work after."

Emily was about to reply, when she seen JJ getting up, heading in their direction. She shut her trap, as JJ went past them to the washroom. Emily almost giggled, she could be a gossip about other people's lives, but didn't appreciate so much anyone delving into hers. What surprised her though was when JJ came back out of the washroom and sat with them.

"Guys, when we land, could you all give me a hand? I can't get everything off the plane myself, and help Dave off too. Could someone carry the ready bags? Or help get Rossi to the vehicle? Any help would be appreciated."

"No problem, JJ, I'll be glad to help." Morgan replied.

"Thanks Derek. I want to take care of him, but I forget sometimes. I don't know what I've let myself in for, with two babies to look after for the next couple of days." JJ laughed.

Morgan and Prentiss looked at one another, they hadn't see JJ so light-hearted in awhile. She was joking with them, happier than she'd seemed in a very long time.

"I'm going to check on Dave. These painkillers really knock him out. He'll be like a dead weight getting him off the plane." With that JJ got up and left the two profilers there, open-mouthed and staring after her.

"What's gotten into her? I thought she was going to die back at that hospital, the way she was going on. It's like she finally decided to go after what she wanted and be happy. You know, if she, I'm happy for her. For some reason, the two of them fit each other well. They both want to take care of one another. It's cute." Emily said.

"Well, it won't be so cute if Strauss gets wind of this. I swear, I think the reason we have so many fraternization policies is because Rossi and Strauss had a thing in the past. If she can make Rossi pay for this, she will find a way."

"Oh, Derek, Strauss is scared of Rossi. She won't do anything to him, it's JJ she'll go after. We need to find something on Strauss, in case she tries something."

"Sounds like a plan, my friend. I'll get baby girl to work on finding something. Nothing's going to interfere with our little lovebirds."

And with that, they concluded their discussion, looking after their friends was a priority for them. They'd already been told they'd never rise further in the ranks of the FBI thanks to Strauss. Taking her down a peg or two would satisfy both of these agents to no end.

The rest of the flight passed with little more being said by anyone. Everyone was tired, wanted their own beds, forget about the last few days for just a little bit. When they touched down, Morgan kept his word, helping Rossi off the plane and to the vehicle. Everyone was glad the senior profiler was okay, but it still bothered them when one of their own was injured. JJ set off to retrieve Henry from Garcia, leaving Rossi sitting in the vehicle, while she ran into pick him up.

Knocking on the door, Penelope squealed when she seen her JJ. "It's been forever, sweetie! Your little man in here misses his mama! He's been a little sweetheart, but you can tell he just wants his mama."

"Pen, I just want you to know, you are the best godmother ever. Thanks so much for looking after him, I appreciate it. I'll see you in a couple of days, I get to go look after another baby now." JJ giggled.

"I swear, I think Rossi got shot so you'd hold up in the cabin with him and play his naughty nurse." Penelope wisecracked.

JJ went red, her conversation from the other day with Rossi fresh in her mind. "Well if it's a naughty nurse he wants, he picked the wrong person to go home with him. I don't play that game. At least, not yet."

Penelope looked at JJ when she said that, surprised JJ had admitted that much. "So, you really do like him, don't you?"

"Pen, I do. I really do. Everything that was missing in how I felt for Will, I feel for Dave, and it hasn't been that long. I thought I would curl up and die the other day when I found out it was him that was shot. It hurt so much."

"Well, whatever you do, I'm here for you JJ. Go for it, you don't have anything to lose." Garcia egged her on.

"Oh, I plan to Pen, once he is recovered, I plan to make my move on him." JJ giggled.

"Do that, and he'll relapse!" Garcia joked back.

"Well, then, I'll get my man while he is down then. He won't be able to resist me."

Gathering up Henry's things, JJ made her way to the door. Garcia carried Henry out to the vehicle, wanting to check on Rossi herself.

"Way to duck there, Mr. Profiler." Garcia joked.

"Why, I missed you to, Garcia." Rossi deadpanned back.

"Hey, any man that makes my angel worry as much as she did is going to get a hard time from me. Next time, DUCK!"

"Well, when you put it like that, I have no choice. Next time, I'll duck." Rossi chuckled.

Putting Henry in the back seat, they made their goodbyes to Penelope, and left for Little Creek, the three of them alone once again, not quite as happily as the last time they'd made this journey, but somewhat content, none the less. Little Creek was fast becoming home for all three, and they wouldn't have it any other way.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N This chapter has M rated content in it, just a warning here.**

The couple of days at Little Creek passed quickly for the occupants of the house. JJ took great care of him, helping Dave dress, as it was hard to maneuver around his bandaged shoulder. He was itching to get back to work, but he enjoyed having JJ playing nurse to him. They'd set Henry up in his playpen in the room with them, JJ taking her place nightly by Rossi's side. She didn't want to anywhere else, and was keeping her promise of being by his side. Henry was a happy baby too, delighting in having his mama home.

Walking out onto the deck, where Dave was situated, she brought him his medication and a drink. She was religious about that, making sure that he would finish off the medication. She suspected he was one of those that when he got feeling the tiniest bit better, quit taking the medication. Not on her watch, she thought to herself. She fielded phone calls from the team, who were anxious to make sure that he was still okay. A few were still stunned that one of their team had been shot, and they had to be convinced that he was coming along fine. Finally taking a seat beside him, she leaned on his good shoulder, looking at the magnificent view. JJ clutched his hand, happy to be with him. Dave broke the silence finally.

"JJ, how are you holding up? You've done so much for me the last few days, I want to know how you are."

"Fine, Dave, I'm fine. I just want you better. I've been missing you lately."

"I've been missing you too, sweetheart. I'll be as good as new, soon. And then, look out." he chuckled.

"You better be ready, funnyman. You are the one who's going to have to look out. Remember, I promised you if you were a good boy, I'd be your naughty nurse when you got better. You just remember that."

JJ reached up and kissed him again, deeply. Dave returned the kiss, and things were starting to happen. She straddled his lap suddenly, careful of his shoulder, carried away with the kiss. They kept at it for a few minutes, but she eventually came to her senses, realizing Dave wasn't ready to go any further quite yet, no matter what certain areas of his body were telling her. Reluctantly pulling away, she slipped back off his lap. Disappointment filled his face.

"Soon, sweetheart, soon. I don't want you to rip the stitches and end up taking longer to recover."

Dave realized the sense in this, and pulled her close to him again, in a tight hug. He wanted her so damn much, and again regretted not getting out of the way of the damn bullet. JJ got up again, saying she was going back into the house to prepare supper. He remained on the deck, thinking things through. He heard music coming from inside the house and realized JJ had put the radio on to accompany her cooking. Things like that made him love her all the more. He knew what he had, he didn't give a damn that it all had happened so soon. He wanted to make her his, leaving no doubt to anyone that JJ was his. Getting up, he made his way into the house, laughing as he watched JJ bop around the kitchen, singing "It's a love story, baby, just say yes." He waited to the song was over, then walked up and turned down the radio for a minute.

"Baby, would you just say yes to me?" he questioned her.

"What Dave? What are you talking about?" she looked at him puzzled.

"The song JJ, the song. He pulled out a ring and asked her to marry him. If I did that, would you just say yes to me?"

"Are you asking me to marry you? Wow, just wow. We've only been together a couple of weeks. How can you be so sure I'm the one?"

"I'm not saying we have to get married right away. What I'm saying is I'm asking you to marry me. I want you to be Mrs. Jennifer Rossi. I don't care if we get married right away, but I do want to marry you. I want you wearing my ring, and living here with me. I want Henry as my stepson, I want you to be my wife, and most of all, I don't want to let go of the most important person in my life."

Shocked, JJ looked deep into Dave's eyes, seeing that he was absolutely serious about this. When Will had proposed to her, she'd said nothing, knowing even then he wasn't the one for her. Yet, given the speed that the relationship with Rossi had taken, she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, her answer for him.

"Baby, I'm saying YES!" JJ shouted. Grabbing him as carefully as possible, she kissed him. Singing again, she teased him "Romeo, you be the prince and I'll be the princess" dancing around, happier than she ever thought possible.

Dave smiled at her, relieved she'd said yes. He'd thought she might call him crazy and high on painkillers, but no, she'd said yes. It's not like they were going to run out and get married right away, but he'd give her time to plan her perfect wedding. He'd been through marriages before, but this was the first time he felt absolutely no doubts about marrying JJ. As far as he was concerned, she was his, and would never be anybody else's. Working things out with Strauss would come, and he'd make sure she kept her paws off of JJ, not causing any ripples. Anything she did to upset JJ would be extremely detrimental to Strauss' career.

JJ was fairly bouncing around the living room. Shocked that so much had changed in such a little time, she had absolutely no regrets about it, except one, that she hadn't acted sooner and had lost so much time with him. She suddenly screeched to a halt though. She turned to him and said "Dave, just one question, don't be mad at me, okay?"

"Okay, JJ, I'll take whatever you say as calmly as I can." uneasy about what she was going to ask him.

"You aren't doing this because of you gunshot wound, are you? The whole re-evaluating your life thing? You really want to marry me, right?"

"JJ, I've wanted to marry you for months, long before we were even together. Yes, the bullet to the shoulder made me think, and it made me realize that I don't want to wait, just because other people will think we are taking things to fast. I have no intention of screwing this marriage up. You are the one I want, the last one I'll ever need. You are everything to me."

JJ stared at him, making her love him all the more. She started dancing again, happier than she ever thought she could be. He caught her arm as she danced by once again, pulling her in for another kiss. She returned his kiss with an urgency, deciding that as a treat, she would be naughty for Dave. Abandoning supper, she took his hand and led him upstairs to the bedroom. Stripping him carefully of his clothes, followed soon after by hers, it didn't take long to get him aroused. Positioning herself carefully over him, she bent down, kissing his chest, being very careful not to jar his shoulder. Grinding herself downward on him, he reached up and touched her breasts with his good arm, arousing her all the more. She bent over him, and teased him, his tongue flicking out to touch her nipples. Straightening up again, she began going faster and faster, trying to be careful at the same time, til both of them exploded. She collapsed beside him on the bed, worried she'd hurt him, but relieved at the same time, it had been a few days since they'd had this contact. He bent his head down again, not ready for it to be over, playing with her nipples again. He was skilled with his tongue, and she held his head to her breasts, and he teased her as much as he could with his sweet torture. She arched her back, thrusting her breasts even more upwards to meet his probing tongue. He nipped at them, making them even more sensitive than they were before, til she had to beg him to stop. That turned him on even more, which led to a repeat performance on JJ's part, riding him til they collapsed again.

Done for now, JJ rolled beside him once again. Concerned about his shoulder, she asked if he was in any pain, and he said the painkillers were wearing off. Grabbing a sheet, she wrapped it around her body, going in search of his pills. It was time for his medication anyway, and she had to get dressed, Henry needed to be gotten up from his nap and have some supper. Playtime was over for now, but she wasn't sorry. She was engaged to the man lying on the bed, and she couldn't have been happier. She helped redress Dave, and they headed downstairs, starting supper once again. Henry was up and babbling away, and Dave played with him while JJ mashed some of his food together. While their food still cooked, she sat beside her two men and began to feed Henry.

"Do you want more children someday, JJ?" Dave asked her out of the blue.

JJ looked at Dave, his serious expression somewhat troubling. Truthfully, she answered "Yes, I do. I want to give Henry a brother or sister. Maybe not right now, god knows I'm busy enough with him, but yes, someday I do."

"Do you think I'd be a good father to a child?"

"Dave, you've acted wonderfully with Henry. He's taken right to you. You're becoming like his father already. I think you'd make a wonderful dad. And someday, when it's our time, we'll have babies of our own."

"You think I'm not too old? Sometimes I wonder if I'll have enough energy to keep up with you and a brood. I'll be a very old man by the time they are grown."

"Hon, I told you before, age isn't anything but a number. You'll make a wonderful dad when a child of ours arrives. And before that, Henry is going to know you as a father too."

At that, Dave took the spoon from JJ and began feeding Henry, wanting to do something to help her. She'd been a saint the last few days, taking care of both Henry and him. Surprised, JJ thanked him and went back to get their supper on the plates. It felt like home to both of them, something neither of them had experienced in a very long time, and neither wanted to lose this feeling. They ended the evening, the three of them curled in front of the fire, unbelieving of their good fortune of finally finding one another, happy together.


	22. Chapter 22

While they'd enjoyed their activities of the night before, when JJ was changing Dave's shoulder wrappings, she noticed some bleeding around the stitches. She immediately was contrite, worried that he was hurting and hadn't told her.

"Dave, does it hurt? Of course it hurts! Why didn't you tell me last night? What we did, could have been postponed! That's what I was afraid of, your stitches ripping! We're going to have to take you to the doctor and get checked out. Oh my god, it's all my fault, we should have waited." JJ was going into a panic.

"JJ, sweetheart, it's okay. It doesn't hurt that bad, but I agree, we'll go get them checked out. Why don't we do that, and stop by the BAU and see how they're doing? We're heading back tomorrow, we'll get a head's up on things." Dave spoke calmly.

"How can you be so calm and matter of fact about this? I was telling you to wait a few days, and here, I ended up hurting you because of what I wanted to do last night. We should have waited!" JJ was nearing panic.

"Calm down, JJ, calm down. We're just going to go to my doctor and get a clean bill of health. Now, get Henry ready, and I'll phone my doctor."

JJ finally calmed down, and did as Dave asked. He phoned the doctor and they had an opening in twenty minutes, if they could make it there in time. Hurrying out of the cabin, they took off for town, ready to get checked out.

JJ fretted while driving, wondering how to explain to the doctor that they'd ripped his stitches the way he did. Rossi robbed her of that notion, calming her further by telling JJ he'd give a little white lie, no one would need to know what really caused the ripping of the stitches. Once they got there, they were ushered right in, and the doctor checked Dave out. He asked Rossi what happened, and Dave explained it away, saying he'd tried dressing himself, and apparently was not ready for it. The doctor gave him a funny look, like he didn't quite believe him, but accepted the explanation. He fixed Dave up, bandaged him up again, and sent them on their way.

They headed for Quantico then, stopping at Garcia's first. The blond computer tech was delighted to see her godson, always a delight for her to see him. She commented as to why they were there, and when give the story that Rossi had torn his stitches she gave JJ a distinctly funny look. Not being able to help herself, she turned to JJ and said, "I thought you were suppose to have this man under control? Next time he tries and dress himself when he's not ready, sit on him! Make him do what he's told for a change."

JJ burst out laughing at that,not being able to help herself. "I'll remember that, Penelope. Although I have a feeling even with one arm, he will do whatever he feels like, let alone me sitting on him."

"Ah, she knows me so well." was all that Rossi commented. Saying their goodbyes at that, and remarking that they'd see her tomorrow, they then took the elevator up to the BAU, surprising the team who were there.

"What are you doing back here? You still have another day before you all have to come back to the grind! Why would you ever come here?" Morgan jokingly asked them.

"Ah, Derek, we missed your pretty face and pleasant personality, so we just had to swing by while we were in town." Rossi quipped.

"I'm touched, man, touched." Morgan laughed.

"Why are you really back here?" Prentiss questioned.

"Just a checkup at the doctor for Dave. He ripped a stitch and it bled, so we came in to get it checked out." JJ replied, hoping she wouldn't ask how he ripped a stitch. She'd been mortified at the doctor's office, let alone standing amongst her colleagues.

"How did you manage to do that?" Spencer, of all people, questioned.

JJ felt herself start to blush, and Rossi came to her rescue, answering "It was my own stupid fault. I thought I could dress myself this morning and ripped it attempting to put a shirt on over the bandages. I should have let my nurse help me, but I was trying to assert my independence."

3 pair of eyes shifted between Rossi and her, trying to determine if he was telling the truth or not. Rossi was very hard to read, but given the fact that JJ was slowly turning red, they'd be willing to bet there was more to it then that. However, they let it go, they would question when they weren't in the middle of a busy office.

"Actually, we just wanted to get up to speed on things for tomorrow, we're just here for a quick visit. Make sure that things were running smoothly here, we know how much you need us around." Rossi joked once again.

"Nothing much, actually. Things have been quiet since we got back, actually." Prentiss replied.

" Although I'm sure when JJ gets back, she'll manage to find something for us to do. She always does." Morgan joked.

"Are you saying that I make you work, Derek?" JJ joked back. "I'll remember that, the next time you think we have too much to do."

"Whoa, back up there, JJ, I didn't say I was bored. It's a nice break. Be nice, sweetheart!" Morgan held up his hands in protest.

"You're forgiven. For now." JJ deadpanned to a frantic looking Morgan.

Escaping up to their respective offices, leaving Henry with a beaming Prentiss and Morgan, JJ grabbed a couple of files she wanted to go over before the morning. Looking down on the two profilers, JJ thought the two looked cute together, holding her baby. She shook her head then, wondering if either of the two profilers would ever start their own families. They needed something more than the job. It had a habit of eating you alive. Locking her door behind her, she met Rossi coming out of his office, and they went down to pick Henry up. They were heading out now, sorry they'd missed Hotch, but JJ could tell that the painkillers were starting to wear off, and wanted to get him back to the cabin for his next dosage. Saying their goodbyes, they escaped the BAU, knowing that they'd be back tomorrow.

Escaping to their vehicle, JJ was getting used to being Dave's chauffeur. She knew she'd be his chauffeur for a good while, since his arm was going to be still in the sling, and she actually enjoyed driving together, them not talking about much of anything. It all felt so natural and real to her, as if this is where she'd belonged all along. Before too long, she pulled onto the road leading to Little Creek, which she thought of as home. Looking over at Rossi, she seen he'd fallen asleep, as had Henry in the back seat. She had no idea how Rossi was going to work tomorrow. She thought it was too soon, but took comfort in the fact she would be there to watch over him. Let people think what they wanted to, she was determined to take care of him. She had thought she was too close to losing him when he was shot, and that had shook her to the core. She had a revelation then, she'd never felt this way about anyone before. She thanked god she'd never answered Will when he had proposed, realizing that it would have been just a reaction to her being pregnant with his child. Picking up Dave's hand, she kissed it gently, and faced the fact that she didn't know what to do without him in her life now. Whether either had intended to get so invested with one another, they were entwined now. And JJ realized she'd rather be nowhere else.


	23. Chapter 23

Rossi had dozed a lot of the day, realizing that it was back to work tomorrow, and their little bubble of life was going to be closed for a few days. Reality unfortunately was going to intervene, but he took comfort in the fact that JJ was going to be there for him. He couldn't remember a time where he'd let his guard down like he did with her, not with any of his wives. He trusted her completely, and couldn't believe that he held her heart, that she loved him, like he loved her. Yes, it was fast. Yes, it was insane. Yes, there was going to be trouble in their future. Yet, he didn't give a damn. He was happy in a way he'd never experienced, nothing his money or previous women had ever provided him. He also couldn't believe that he might never have experienced it except for her coming to apologize. He still felt bad that JJ had felt the need to apologize. Yes, the phone calls had been annoying, but it really hadn't been her fault, but that young idiot that was so over-protective. Will's way of acting had driven JJ straight to Rossi, and for that he'd thank the young man someday. Rossi believed he had all he ever wanted, and he was damned if he would ever let it go.

That night, his mother hen, JJ babied him, making sure he was comfortable, nothing jarring his arm. There would be no repeat performance from their engagement day, she blamed herself horribly for the ripping of the stitches. For a change, Rossi felt protected and loved, an unusual feeling for him. He couldn't recall being protected in his life, except as a child, and that really didn't count here. He was completely sure of his love for JJ, knowing that he could trust her with his heart and life.

JJ, for her part, fretted and worried over her bed partner. Not wanting to hurt him again, she'd propped his arm safely with pillows, before snuggling in beside him, the two just laying there, content. She listened to the steady rhythm of his heart, and thought to herself it was one of the most beautiful sounds she'd ever heard. That heart was hers, and that completely satisfied her in a way she'd never, ever known. God help anyone who tried to come in between her and what she considered her property, she laughed to herself.

The next morning dawned bright and clear, and the little family readied itself for the work day. They arrived and settled down to work. JJ deposited Henry at the daycare, and allowed Rossi to hold her hand in the elevator on the way up to the BAU, although they did drop hands when the elevator dinged its familiar ring at their floor. JJ reluctantly parted from Dave, after she'd left him in his office, telling him to phone if he needed anything whatsoever. Settling down into the office she'd not seen in almost a week, she felt overwhelmed by all the new files that seemed to have made their way to her inbox. She started perusing, and very soon came upon a case that needed someone to give it a good profilers view. It was perfect to give to Rossi, get him back into the routine,so she picked it up and took it to him. He smiled when she entered, saying "Miss me so much already you couldn't stay away?"

"No, Mr. Funnyman, this case here needs a profilers view on it, I don't think it's a call for the BAU team to be involved yet, but I thought you'd give it a look, give them some ideas who they may be looking for."

"No problem, JJ, I look at it after I'm finished filling in all these forms stemming from my shooting. I apparently have a lot of work to occupy my time." the profiler told her.

"Well, if you need any help, let me know. You wouldn't believe the amount of casefiles I've got stacked in there. Did anyone do anything while we were gone?" she joked.

"Well, considering Derek seemed to think he was bored yesterday, it makes you wonder." Dave chuckled.

"I heard that!" Morgan said as he walked past the open office door.

"Derek, my friend, you knew that JJ would get you for the bored remark from yesterday. You shouldn't be shocked. She will make you pay for that, so be prepared for work. I'm sure she'll find something in her stack of goodies for you to do now that she's back."

"I missed you too, Dave, gee, I wonder what we've done without you." Morgan replied.

"Smart ass." JJ remarked.

"You know you love me, JJ. You really do." and with that Morgan left two people laughing in his wake. The man knew how to make people love him, that was for sure.

"Well, I'm heading back to wade through some more. Do you want to meet for lunch? I can run down to the cafeteria and bring something up here and we can just eat here, if you want." JJ asked him.

"Sounds good. Let me know when you are ready, see you then, babe."

"See you, Dave."

JJ closed the door behind her. She already started to worry, Dave sounded tired already, and it was only 10:30. She would make sure he was well looked after at lunch time, and nobody would disturb him during his lunch. She started back into the files, the work depressing her, but needed to be done. The next thing she knew, it was nearing 12, so she finished up what she was doing, and went down to the cafeteria, and picking up stuff that she knew he would eat. Getting takeout in a bag, she headed back upstairs with their lunch, knocking on his door. She heard him say come in, so entered, holding the bag up.

"Your lunch, kind sir." she said in a playful tone. Setting the meal down on the desk, she turned around and locked his door. She then closed his blinds and shut the light off. Everyone had gone to lunch when she'd come through the BAU, and on the off chance that people got back early, she wanted them to think that Dave was gone. He needed to rest, and he had a tendency to work through lunch. She took his good hand, prying him from his desk and took him to the couch to sit. She then retrieved the food and sat it down, getting it out for him to eat. They made quick work of lunch, and then just sat back on the couch, happy to get some time to themselves during this busy day. She rested her head on his chest, listening to the beating of his heart, and the slow, steady breaths he took. Soon, he dozed off, which pleased her. A catnap would do him a world of good.

Lunch hour ended way too soon, but she needed to get him up, so started tickling his nose. When that didn't work, she feathered his lips with tiny kisses, and that did the trick. He pulled her into a deep kiss, one that took her breath away. JJ sat back, and gave him a huge smile and mischievously said to him "Do you do that to all your wakeup calls?"

"Only for special wakeup calls such as that. Play your cards right, you can do that for the rest of my life."

"Oh, don't you worry, mister. The only wakeup calls you better be getting from now on better come from me." and kissed him again.

Reluctantly, she eventually pulled away from him. It was time for work again. Getting up off the couch, she gathered the garbage from their lunch and took it with her. She'd made sure he took his pills before she left, concerned he make it through the end of the day. She wanted her man to mend as fast as he could, she missed his old self in more ways than one. And she intended for when he was better to properly celebrate their engagement. Lost in her train of thought, she almost ran into Emily as she walked towards her office.

"Whoa, JJ, you are in a total different world here! What's got you so pre-occupied?" Emily couldn't help herself, JJ was being spacey, so totally unlike her.

"Just thinking about this one case, Emily. I can't get it out of my mind." JJ lied smoothly.

"Well, don't burn out too quickly, JJ. You've still got another 4 hours of work. You need to take it easy."

"Trust me, Emily, I won't. I'm trying to learn to leave the job behind me when I walk out these doors. I've got to try harder from now on. See you later, Em." JJ kept going. It was true though. She was working harder at it this time, although admittedly, Dave knew what the job entailed. Will never, ever wanted to understand her job, her loyalty to it. And that's why the job had won over him. With Dave, they understood the job, they understood each other. They knew what the hours involved, they knew what the risks were. And that made all the difference in the world.


	24. Chapter 24

And so it went, JJ and Rossi bonding more and more together. The days grew into weeks. Neither would admit to being in a relationship, but the team watched as they grew closer and closer. The team knew, they didn't need to be told. How JJ had apparently thought she could keep it from them was beyond her now. The depth of her feelings, she couldn't hide them, not for Rossi. She did manage to keep things separate though. Although concerned about him, she convinced him to behave himself at work, in exchange for not behaving after work. She didn't want anyone questioning their integrity, and wanted things separate. He acquiesced to her wishes, he already knew she was his. They hadn't told anyone of their engagement, because, yes, honestly it was fast. They knew, that was good enough. No ring yet, but he intended to get her a spectacular one. One thing they'd agreed upon, however, was finding a place in town, for nights they were working late. The apartment didn't work for either of them, he didn't like to be reminded that Will had lived with her there. So, JJ now held Garcia to her promise of helping her find a place in town, close to work, a very nice crash pad so to speak. Except now, it wasn't to rent, it was to buy. Rossi and her had decided if they were to be married(even if people didn't know about it), they would purchase a house, and he told her to go ahead and get Garcia in on it. JJ would spend time with her best friend, and Rossi wouldn't have to spend time house hunting. Win-win all around.

On one of her first free nights from the BAU, she had a girls night with Garcia and Prentiss. Rossi's shoulder was nicely mended, he was free from the bandages, and he was looking after Henry by himself, a first. JJ intended to inform Penelope they were now house hunting. Dave had no interest in a condo or an apartment. He didn't want neighbors nearby, he wanted a yard, and he wanted seclusion. Money was no object, a factor that she didn't know what Penelope would go crazy for. Kissing Dave and her son goodbye, she headed back to town, for Penelope's apartment. It had been awhile since they'd done this. Garcia had Kevin, JJ was with Rossi, they both suspected that Emily had something going on with someone, she'd been unusually happy of late. JJ and Garcia were taking bets on to who it was, Garcia going with Hotch, while JJ thought that it might be Morgan, although for arguments sake, she told Garcia she thought Emily was hooking up with Reid just to get a reaction out of her. Finding a parking space, she pulled in, locked her vehicle up, and headed on up to Penelope's apartment. Prentiss had beaten her there, and by the looks of it, Garcia had been interrogating her, Emily fairly pulling her into the apartment when she arrived.

"JJ, it's about time you got here. You have to save me from her." pointing a finger at Garcia. "She thinks I'm having a thing with Hotch. Can you believe she thinks I'm having a thing with Hotch?"

"What's the matter with Hotch, Em? Yes, he can be morose at times, a bully, but he has a good heart, he's a good man. You could do worse. And from what I've heard, you have." JJ teased.

"For one thing, JJ, it's Hotch were talking here. He's still not over Haley, he really needs to move on. And for another, I'm just not interested in him."

"So who are you interested in then, Em?" JJ enjoyed herself, now that she wasn't on the receiving end of an interrogation.

Prentiss went red in the face, proving that she did have something going on with someone. "I don't know what you mean, JJ. I've got nothing going on." Her protest sounded weak, Em herself didn't even believe in what she was saying.

"You can tell us now, or the Queen of everything will have spycams all over your place and you'd never even know it."

"JJ, you of all people should understand about not wanting to tell co-workers anything. You still even haven't officially admitted you are with Rossi. But, you are here now, and you are going to spill."

JJ couldn't believe she was now in the headlights of the two women. But, figuring the engagement would come out soon enough, she finally admitted to the two of them that she was in a relationship with Dave Rossi.

Garcia, never one to be subtle was the first to really hit with the questions then. "So, what's he like in bed? The man has a reputation, is he as good as we've heard?"

JJ blushed a bright shade of red, not believing this. "He's fantastic, girls. I've never had a better man. You don't know what you are missing." With that, JJ got up from where she was sitting, heading for the wine. She was going to need it.

Garcia and Penelope sat there, jaws dropped open at how JJ had just candidly told them that. They followed her to the wine, hoping for more details. "Okay, you want to know, here's the deal. Anything I say in this room, if you repeat it anywhere, I will spill every single secret I know about you two. And I know a lot. So I want your promise now."

"We promise." both of them said in unison.

"Dave's the best lover I've ever had. I never knew what it could be like, til I was with him. It makes what I was doing with Will look like a teenager in the back of a car. The man can go for hours, and he's attentive to everything. I know exactly why the man has the rep he does, and he's all mine now. And I don't intend to let him go. And the fact of the matter is, I love him" she ended with a huge smile on her face.

The two women just stood there, open mouthed, staring at their little JJ. Their sweet, innocent little JJ, who apparently was with a great lover. No wonder she looked so damn happy all the time.

"Just remember, if I hear anything of this, I will tell Morgan you like him Emily, and Penelope, I don't know what I'll do, but I'll do something. Now, I need your help finding a house Penelope. Dave wants a crash pad here nearer Quantico, and he doesn't like my apartment. And since I was going to look for a new place anyway, we can now look to buy. We're going to buy a house together."

Again, Prentiss and Garcia just looked at her as if she had grown another head. Where were they when all this happened? How did she go from breaking up with Will to taking Rossi on as a lover and now she was moving in with him? Where it took forever for her to do anything with Will, she was moving at a breakneck speed with Rossi.

"Any particular neighborhood?" Garcia asked.

"He wants seclusion, neighbors further away, relatively quiet. Like Little Creek, just not as far from town, when we are both so tired."

Garcia let her fingers do the magic. Now that she was working with "real" money, her options for her friend had opened considerably. It actually wasn't too long before she had a list of potential houses. They oohed and awed over the virtual tours, and narrowed it down for three for Rossi and JJ to take a tour of. The girls then settled in for a few drinks, laughing the entire time. JJ hadn't been this free with them in a long time. While she was with Will, she'd been so guarded, everything with Rossi had also been shrouded in secrecy. It was a relief for her that things weren't a big secret to hide anymore. She loved David Rossi, and had reached the point that she didn't care who knew.


	25. Chapter 25

JJ arrived back at Little Creek. She hadn't drank a lot, she was driving, but she'd had a lot of fun with the girls. Now, it came time to warn Dave that she'd told Garcia and Emily they were involved. Not only involved, but having sex, terrific sex. Dave would be shocked that JJ had finally admitted to someone that they were involved. Since neither woman had been shocked that she was in a relationship with him, she took it as a good sign. They were tickled pink that JJ was happy, really happy. It had taken her a year to admit to being in a relationship with Will, and even then, was reluctant to discuss anything, even her pregnancy. A month into a relationship with Rossi, not only had she confirmed it, but had been very happy doing so.

Walking into the cabin, the lights were low, no sign of Dave or Henry. She took off her jacket, walked up the stairs, entering the bedroom. On the bed lay her missing men, sleeping. Henry was curled up on Rossi's chest, Dave's arm surrounding him so he didn't fall. She covered both with a blanket, and stepped into the bathroom to shower and ready for bed. Coming back out, she scooped up her son and took him to the crib that Dave and her had bought and installed at the cabin. Slowly, JJ had been moving in with him out at Little Creek, not using her apartment as anything more than a crash pad. Henry remained asleep, and she came back in and snuggled with Dave. He began to stir, wrapping his arm around her. He pulled her closer, drawing her in for a kiss.

"Missed you, babe. Henry was a real sweetheart all night. The two of us had a great time." he chuckled.

"Missed you, too, sweetie. I have something to tell you, though."

"And that would be?"

"I told Garcia and Prentiss that we are in a relationship. Oh, and that you are the best I've ever had." She laughed at the look he gave her. "What? You are! I swear! And I told them they were out of luck, you were all mine, and they'd never get their chance at you now."

All Rossi could do was laugh. "What happened to keeping it secret? And you actually admitted we were having sex. Amazing."

"Well, the sex is amazing, I told them that!"

He pulled her in for a kiss again, relieved that JJ was finally opening up, not wanting to hide things anymore. One thing led to another, and he proved once again why JJ was so satisfied with him. Afterwards, they snuggled together, when Dave surprised her once again.

"JJ, Henry and I went shopping tonight. We got you a little something."

"Ooh, I love surprises, Dave. What did you two pick out for me?" JJ's blue eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Close your eyes, sweetie." Rossi asked her.

JJ closed her eyes, excited that Dave had something for her. "Open your eyes." she heard him say after a minute.

Opening her eyes, Dave was down on one knee, holding a beautiful diamond ring in his hand.

"JJ, I know you've already agreed to marry me, but I didn't ask you properly, I had no ring. Your son has very good taste, he helped me pick this little beauty out. Anyway, Jennifer Jareau, will you do the honor of marrying me?" he offered her the ring then, holding it out to her. "I love you, JJ, I can't imagine my life without you. I want Henry to be my son, I want you to have my children, I just want you. I know you've already said yes, but please, will you marry me?"

JJ teared up. The man had asked her to marry him twice, taken her son ring shopping with him, proposed naked for god's sake. She loved everything about him, he made her happy, she did not want to be anywhere else or be with anyone else.

"Dave, I'm not going anywhere. Of course I will marry you, you know I will. I love you, more than I could have ever thought possible. The ring is beautiful, you are beautiful. Yes, yes, yes."

He slipped the ring on her finger then, it really was gorgeous. She admired it and then pulled him into a deep kiss, pulling him down on her once again. Given a repeat performance, they celebrated their re-engagement.

"I'm not taking the ring off, Dave. I'm proud of it. I'm not hiding anymore. They can think what they want. I'm yours, and I don't care who knows it." JJ told him.

"Why the change of heart, JJ? You were desperate to keep it quiet before."

"Because I've never been more sure of how I feel, how you feel. I've never felt like this before. Besides, I don't want to hide anymore. I don't care if everyone knows. Too bad for them if they didn't take their shot with you." she joked.

He laughed at that, he'd never met a woman like her before. Sweet, beautiful, smart, she was everything he'd ever wanted, everything he'd ever need again. God knows what everyone would think, him trying marriage for the fourth time. It may have been the fourth time, but it was definetely the last. He'd protect her, look after her, do anything to make sure she was happy.

"Well, everyone has missed their shot with me, and you're out of the field now too, hon. I'd like to see anyone try and hit on you again. I will not be a happy man." he joked back.

"You have nothing to worry about in that department. I could never be happy with anyone but you."

With that, she kissed him again. "Oh, Garcia helped me to find some nice houses to look at. We narrowed it down to three choices, based on your preferences. Do you want me to call the Realtor tomorrow? Set up some appointments?"

"Sure, it would make things a little easier. I hate to not be at Little Creek, but this gives us a place to crash on those late nights. Plus, I really don't want to go to your apartment anymore."

"I know Dave, I know. I had told Garcia before you got shot I wanted to move, but things got put on hold. Somebody had to take care of you. I actually think it made me fall in love with you more. You are such a good patient."

"Well, I love my naughty nurse. She really helped me recover." Rossi feathered her with more kisses.

"Wow, you are really ready to go tonight. Did you miss me that much while I was gone tonight? I should spend more time away from you!" JJ giggled.

He growled at her, "No, I want you by my side. I did miss you, I just can't get enough of you. It's never going to get old."

"Well, you have nothing to worry about. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere." And with that, they celebrated their engagement once again.


	26. Chapter 26

JJ awoke in the morning, but was still tired and sore. Celebrating their engagement once again had resulted in a record for them (3 times, what was she thinking?) and a soreness that she had to get rid of before they left for work. Her body ached from the night before. Rossi slept on, so JJ went and had a bath instead of a shower for a change. She just needed to soak. Laying there, she looked at the engagement ring on her left hand. It was huge. There was no way she could hide this, even though she'd admitted her relationship to the girls. Everything was going to come out at work today, no doubt. It would get to Strauss somehow, and JJ wondered what was going to come down the pike today. Called on the carpet in Strauss' office, no doubt. She knew Rossi could handle himself, but the director intimidated the hell out of her. She slipped down into the water, blowing bubbles out, before she launched back up, pulling her legs up to her chest. She felt like she was going to be sent to the principals office. Gah, why did things have to be so screwed up? She falls in love for the first real time in her life, the man wants to marry her, he understands her job, but the job frowns on getting involved with coworkers. What were they thinking?

Tired of feeling sorry for herself, and the need to get up and running, JJ launched herself out of the bath, wrapping herself in a fluffy towel. She dried her hair, slipped on her robe and walked out into the bedroom. Rossi was just starting to wake up. He look as exhausted as she did, and she giggled. They really did bring the best out in each other.

"You know, just because we got engaged last night doesn't mean you get to skip work today. Get out of bed, lazy bones." JJ told him

"Excuse me, Miss "Yes, yes, yes" you weren't exactly protesting our engagement party last night." he chuckled.

"Well, my dear, I ache from our celebrations. I have bruises in places I don't even believe. We were a little enthusiastic last night. We probably shouldn't have done this on a week night."

"Well, I didn't hear a "no" out of you, sweet cheeks"

"I don't say "no" to something I'm enjoying very much. Now, get in the shower, or we're going to be late for work." JJ chuckled as she walked out to go to Henry's room.

Picking her fussing son out of the crib, JJ whispered to him "You did good son, Mommy loves her ring. You have excellent taste in jewelery." She kissed him on his little head, delighted that everything was going so well. She wished that she'd acted on this long ago, although she'd never give up Henry for anything in the world. She just wished she hadn't wasted so much time when the life she really did want had been in front of her for so long. She started talking to her son again, just talking relieved the stress in her.

"Mommy might not have a job after today sweetie. Once everyone knows about the engagement, Mommy may be booted out of the BAU. I don't know what I would do without that job. The whole team is like my family. Mommy loves you two, but she loves her friends and job too."

In response, Henry just squealed and giggled. JJ teared up, loving her son so much, worried about the day. She was happy she was engaged, loved Rossi with all her heart, had absolutely no idea how things were going to work out. She finished dressing Henry, then took him down to the kitchen to feed him. Dave joined her shortly after, taking over the duties of feeding Henry so that JJ could go finish getting ready for work.

Dave fed the little boy he considered his son now and then did the exact same thing JJ had been doing, talking his problems over with Henry. "You know, I like to think of you as my son now, Henry. And I love you and your mama very much. I think she's worried too much. I know she's stressing over everyone finding out we're engaged. She doesn't need to worry, though. Her job is safe, this won't be an issue. I'll make sure of that."

In response, Henry blew raspberries with his cereal. Rossi laughed at this and finished feeding him. He got up and made some cereal for himself, and got a muffin out for JJ. It was funny how they'd slipped into a routine, doing things for one another, anticipating what the other wanted without asking. JJ joined him shortly, ready for work, wearing her ring, although she looked so worried sitting there. He finally decided to broach the issue, her worries.

"JJ, I know you said last night you didn't care whether anyone knew we were engaged, and I want you to know you have nothing to worry about. Strauss isn't even an issue."

"How do you know that, Dave? She makes everything an issue! She hates the BAU as it is, this is an opportunity for her to get rid of one of us. Since she's scared of you, it will be me! I don't know why this is bothering me, it just is. Strauss is a megabitch and she's always looking for anything to bring us down."

"JJ, I know it won't be an issue. How do you think Strauss moved up in the FBI the way she did? She married a higher up. Since they both maintained their positions, she has no reason to even try and make an issue of anything. Plus, I may know a thing or two about her that she would not wanting to get out, so I think the only thing Strauss may ever say to you is "congratulations"." Dave spoke confidently

"Okay, Dave, I'll take your word for it. But if I'm fired today because she wants to make an issue of it, you may only be getting conjugal visits at prison, because I may kill her."

"Way to celebrate the engagement, babe. I much prefer our activities from last night." he chuckled.

JJ threw a dishtowel at him, put her glass in the dishwasher, and got Henry ready to go. It was time to face everyone, and hope they would understand. Arriving at work, they went to the daycare first, depositing Henry, then up in the elevator to the BAU. They debated who would be the first to notice the ring, and how long it would take anyone. They entered the BAU, and went to their respective offices. Both were actually surprised how long it took anyone to notice. It wasn't until they went to lunch with the whole group that there was suddenly a high-pitched squeal emanating from one Penelope Garcia

"WHAT IS THAT?" she shouted across the table at the outdoor cafe they all sat at.

"What's what, Garcia? An d why do you sound like a cat with it's tail caught in a door?" Morgan asked her.

"I'm not talking to you Morgan, I'm talking to JJ. What is that thing on her finger? Where did you get something like that? When did this happen? And why, oh why, did you not tell me, YOUR absolute best friend in the universe something of mega proportions as this?" Garcia was practically apoplectic now.

With five pair of eyes staring at her and her fiancé studying his plate, JJ knew exactly how a deer in headlights felt. She babbled out "ah, ah" when Dave came to her rescue. "Garcia, calm down. I've asked JJ to marry me, and she's accepted. I asked her last night, and I convinced her not to tell anyone, we wanted to see how long it took you all to notice." He shouldered the blame, Garcia wouldn't take it out on him too much. Despite her toughness, she backed away from confronting Rossi. "We never thought it would take you all til noon to see the ring on her finger. Didn't figure that at all!"

Hotch looked slightly stunned at the development, but was the first to offer congratulations. The rest followed suit, none expressing surprise by how fast everything had seemed to happen. What they did know was how well the two worked together, how everything seemed to gel between the two of them. They brought out the best in one another, they looked after one another.

Morgan was the first to take a little bit of the buzz down. "What about Strauss? What's going to happen there?"

Dave spoke then, looking at Hotch "Nothing is going to happen. Strauss will say nothing, I'll make sure of it."

"How do you intend for that?" Hotch asked.

"Aaron, I know many things about that woman that she would not like to get out. She tries to show her bitchy self, it's going to be a tough go for her, I'll guarantee it."

At that, the girls took turns oohing and awwing over the ring, couldn't believe the size of it. JJ smiled and said "Henry helped pick it out."

"Well, the boy has good taste, I'll give him that." Emily said.

"You are going to let me plan the wedding, aren't you angelfish?" Garcia asked.

"Within reason, Penelope, within reason." JJ laughed.

With that, they headed back to the BAU. They planned to keep it between them for now, hopefully no one else would notice, but they were prepared if it did. JJ loved her family, as she considered the team, and was glad that everyone knew how much Dave and her meant to one another. She'd never considered she'd ever feel this blessed, and felt a thousand times better than she had this morning. Grinning, she realized she had a wedding to plan, she was going to marry the man she loved, the one that made her happier than anything in the world.


	27. Chapter 27

JJ wished she could have celebrated her engagement in secret for a while longer, but within two days of announcing it to the team, word had made it's way to Strauss. Perhaps it was the ring she was wearing, the fact that Prentiss kept talking about it, despite JJ's wish to keep things quiet, but none the less, Strauss knew. And Dave and her had a meeting with her majesty at 2 that afternoon. JJ sat in her office, having gone into panic mode. She couldn't think, she didn't know how Rossi was taking it so calmly. She knew that he had told her that she had nothing to worry about, but still, this was Strauss, nothing good could come from this.

Dave knocked on her door about 15 minutes before the meeting. He entered, seeing how white she looked in the face and simply took her in his arms to hug her.

"It will be okay, I promise you that, JJ. You knew that this meeting would come sooner or later."

"I know, Dave, I know. Strauss makes me nervous, no matter what" JJ fretted.

"Sweetheart, for all you know, she's just calling us in to offer us congratulations."

"I wish it was that simple, Dave, I really do."

With that, they left her office to head over to Strauss'. Apparently JJ's wishes were coming true, because Strauss was anything but what JJ had envisioned.

"I hear congratulations to the two of you are in order. May I extend them on behalf of the FBI." Erin Strauss said, surprising the hell out of JJ.

"Thank you, Agent Strauss." JJ said simply.

"I just called you here to inform you that although it is contrary to some of the fraternization guidelines that the FBI has, your impending nuptials are within the acceptable guidelines of the FBI. Just make sure it does not interfere with your work in any way, shape or form, and things will be fine." Strauss had just given them her blessing, JJ just stood there looking dumbfounded.

"Thank you, Erin. I knew you, of all people, would understand that sometimes two agents find themselves in circumstances where they do fall in love. How is Ben, by the way? I haven't seen much of him since I came back to the BAU." Dave, remaining composed, asked Strauss.

"He's fine, Dave. He's heading up the terrorist section now, quite the promotion." Strauss replied.

"Good, good, he always was good in dealing with difficult situations." Rossi replied. "If you'll excuse us, Erin, we're heading back to the BAU. Thanks for your congratulations, it's good of the FBI to understand."

"Well, Dave, we wouldn't want to lose either of you as agents. You know the FBI is accommodating in special circumstances, and this appears to be one."

"Very good of the FBI, very good. Now, if you'll excuse us...." he trailed off, and him and JJ took their leave of Strauss.

JJ waited til they got back to Dave's office. She turned to him and launched herself at him, planting a deep kiss on the man. He caught her in his arms, and lifted her off the ground and twirled. Setting her down, he said to her "I told you you had nothing to worry about."

"I had no clue it would ever go that simply. I thought she'd be a fire breathing dragon. What gives?" JJ asked her husband to be.

"Well, I may have mentioned to Erin that past indiscretions on her part may come to light if there was any issue made of our situation. She chose to see things my way, for a change. And don't worry, I kind of let her know that if she was to try and make life miserable for you in any way, shape or form, it would reflect on her sorry ass. You and the BAU are safe for now."

Kissing Dave again, she stood back and slugged him in the arm then. "You knew she was going to be nice about this, and you let me worry about it? Dave!"

"Honey, I tried to tell you before we went that she might not be so bad about it." Dave said sheepishly.

"I almost had a heart attack, being called on the carpet to the dragon lady's office. I worried for days! When I got the call this morning, I almost fled here, like I was a criminal." JJ rattled off.

"Well, it's over with now, we just go with the flow from now on. No more should be brought up here about it. Now, I have to ask you, when would you like to tell Will? He's going to need to find out sooner or later. I'm worried about how he will react."

"I'm not sure, actually Dave. He's flying up this weekend to see Henry, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to tell him. I really think he won't take it well, not at all. I never even answered him when he asked me to marry him. I always told him I wasn't ready. I guess it was a matter of that I wasn't ready to marry, just not marry him." JJ said sadly.

"It's okay, babe, we'll get through this. He has a right to know, and once you don't have the apartment anymore, I think he's going to wonder about the living arrangements when he picks Henry up for his visitations."

JJ groaned, realizing that now she had to work her way through that too. "I never once thought a year ago that my life would be like this. I was expecting his baby, he was living here, I thought he was it. Now, everything has changed so much."

"Are you saying you'd rather be with him?" Rossi stiffened up.

"No, what I am saying is that I thought this door was shut. I was expecting his baby, he'd flew up here to live. I never knew you really wanted to be in a relationship. But I'm glad we finally figured things out. I've never been happier in my entire life. I can't ever imagine being without you now." JJ wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm glad we both got things figured out, JJ. I never want anyone other than you. I love you." Rossi reached in and kissed her.

"Well, if you behave yourself the rest of the day, you'll get a nice visit from the naughty nurse tonight, Agent Rossi." JJ flirted with him.

"Well, let's make it through the rest of the day, Jen, and we'll see what kind of visit we have tonight."

"I can hardly wait, Agent Rossi, I can hardly wait." With that, JJ whirled around, walked out the door, leaving a breathless Rossi in her wake. He muttered under his breath "Me either.", closed the door and went back to work, looking forward to an evening with his "naughty nurse".


	28. Chapter 28

JJ watched Rossi move forward out of the sheriff's office, admiring his lean form. What she didn't like was the fact that the one female deputy had planted herself beside Dave, had been for the better part of the day. JJ also was recognizing the signals the woman was sending off to Dave, and she did not take to them to kindly. Rossi had been exceedingly polite to the young woman, simply because they needed to work with the police, but JJ was ready to commit a bodily assault on the woman, whether it meant being hauled off to jail or not. This was their first away case since the two of them had gotten engaged where she'd been seriously out of sorts, and any pretense from before that Dave wasn't hers was gone. The rest of the team accepted it, it hadn't interfered with the work in any way possible, but JJ couldn't help but stare daggers at the woman who seemed to think that being a panting fangirl was going to get her some were with Rossi. As a result, JJ realized this was the first time on a case she was not giving it her 100% to a case, and that bothered her. A lot. And since she couldn't take it out on the deputy, she'd started sniping at Dave at moments, and she could see his temper starting to flair up.

Fortunately for JJ, Prentiss seemed to realize the problem, and got JJ out of the sheriff's office, asking JJ to go to interview a witness with her. She hustled JJ to the black SUV, planted her in the seat and began driving.

"JJ, what the hell's the matter with you? Dave is about to go apocalyptic in there, and you look like you are going to murder someone, specifically that little deputy. You need to get a grip, girl." Emily told her straight out.

"Em, that little witch has done everything to get Dave's attention except for stripping down and laying herself out. I've never felt so close to killing someone. And this is screwing me up. I can't even concentrate." JJ felt like crying.

In the two months since Dave and her had become engaged, this was the first time that something like this had come up. And JJ was handling it very, very badly. As far as she was concerned, if an accident should happen to the little trollop, well, she wouldn't be missed. But now, she also knew she had Dave upset with her, the sniping at him at times had definetely not helped. Prentiss had been right, hustling her out of there, or World War 3 might have occurred in the dingy little sheriff's office in the small Texas town they were in. It wasn't only the flirting by the deputy, JJ had been emotionally off center for about two weeks now. And she pretty much knew why. She had an appointment with her doctor once they got back from this trip, but JJ was pretty sure she was pregnant with Dave Rossi's child. It was so not part of her plan. Henry was just about a year old now, and having another child so soon was not something she'd thought she'd wanted. Part of her was terrified about it. She didn't want to leave the BAU again so soon, she was fully back into the routine of it, and a second child was going to be so much harder to balance than one.

Prentiss called her back to reality, they'd arrived at the house to interview the witness, and they sat there, in silence for a few minutes while JJ pulled herself together. All in all, not one of JJ's finer moments as an FBI agent. She made it though the interview very professionally, but could tell that Prentiss was not through with her yet. Sighing, having told no one of her suspicions of her little bundle of joy, JJ begged off, asking to be taken back to the hotel, she didn't feel well. Prentiss complied, and agreed to cover for her back at the police station.

Waving goodbye to Emily, she let herself into her hotel room, kicked off her shoes, and collapsed on the bed. She slept almost as soon as her head touched the pillow, her emotions having butt-kicked her this day. Afternoon slipped into evening before JJ awoke, seeing it was almost 7. Picking up her phone, she seen that there were 5 messages from Dave, 2 from Hotch and 2 from Prentiss. She threw the phone on the bed, and stepped into the shower, having a quick one, before phoning Prentiss. Prentiss informed her they were still at the station, and asked her if she wanted her to swing by and pick her up. JJ agreed, she was feeling much better now, and apologized for flaking out earlier. She heard Prentiss mutter something about "it's not me you have to apologize to" before she said she'd be right there to pick JJ up. Hanging up, JJ grabbed her jacket and purse, heading for the lobby to wait for Emily.

Arriving at the station, JJ got straight to work. She didn't see Dave, and she didn't ask where he was, she simply tried to make up the work she'd missed. She was nothing but professional for the next two hours, even to the little witch that had made her lose it earlier. The rest of the team arrived back at the station by 9, and they called it a day, deciding to head out for a very late supper. JJ felt Dave's eyes on her, but chose to say nothing. Seated at the restaurant, the rest of the team started to decompress from the day, JJ remaining quiet, as she felt guilty for skipping out on 3 hours of work. Most unprofessional of her, even though the rest of the team said nothing. Supper arrived, and JJ tried to eat, she really did. But supper didn't sit right with her, and she had to excuse herself to the bathroom, where what she did eat made a reappearance. She cleaned herself up, left the restroom and ran right into her fiancé.

"JJ, you care to tell me what's been going on today? What is up with you? First, you're having a mood swing to end all mood swings at the station, you disappear because you're sick this afternoon, and now, you're throwing up in the ladies room. Care to share?" Rossi grilled her.

"It's nothing, Dave, nothing. I'm just on edge right now, not quite sure why. And that little tart at the police station didn't help anything. Hell, if you'd done anything to indicate any interest, I think she would have laid herself out on the nearest desk for you!" JJ's voice was rising, Dave taking a step back. He really didn't want to have this conversation in the restaurant, so he let things go for now.

"JJ, we'll talk at the hotel. This conversation is not over, not at all. I want some answers and we will talk about this. Guaranteed." He left it at that, following her back to the table. They finished up supper, the tension noticeably higher amongst the engaged pair, and everyone headed back to the hotel. Dave followed her into her room, intent on grilling her. He had noticed that JJ had been out of sorts for a week or so, but put it down to it being "her time of the month". But this, this wasn't his JJ, and he needed to know what was up.

"So, are you going to tell me what's up? You haven't acted right in awhile. What's a matter here? What aren't you telling me?" What he didn't expect was for JJ to sit down on the bed and start to cry. This was not something he was used to. JJ didn't cry like this for no reason. Immediately contrite, he bent down on his knees in front of her.

"JJ, sweetie, don't cry. What's wrong?" He grabbed her hands in his, willing her to talk to him.

"Dave, I think I'm pregnant." JJ finally admitted.

Dave sat stunned, looking at JJ. She was pregnant. With his baby. "Are you sure?" he finally sputtered out.

JJ gave him a look like he was an idiot. "Yes, aside from an official visit to a doctor. I have been through this before, I'm pretty sure. I took a home pregnancy test before we headed out on this case, and it came up positive. And if you dare ask me if it's yours, I will skin you alive."

"JJ, I would never ask that! I would never, ever think that of you! I love you, sweetie, you know that."

"I know, Dave, it's these damn hormones, they are already playing hell with my emotions. I've really screwed up this case, haven't I?" JJ cried some more.

"No, you haven't, honey." Dave tried to appease her.

"Yes, I have, I've never wanted to kill anyone in my life, but that little tramp of a deputy was about to have her eyes clawed out."

"JJ, I promise you, I wasn't even paying attention to her. And I'll make sure that Hotch deals with her tomorrow, if it's easier for you."

Throwing her arms around his neck, JJ kissed her fiancé. "Thank you, thank you, thank you Dave!"

JJ suddenly let out a huge yawn, betraying the fact that her energy levels were certainly out of whack too. Dave slipped his jacket off, and laid down on the bed with her, where she quickly fell asleep. He felt the little ups and downs of her breathing, and thought what a lucky guy he was. The woman he loved was going to make him a father (again, as he considered Henry to be his son, too), and she was going to marry him. He had been shocked, but he was pleased too. Everything had changed so much in the last while, and he was a better man for it. Getting JJ through this case without killing the little deputy was his challenge for the rest of the time here, and he realized he was going to need Prentiss' help. She'd kept JJ from going ballistic this afternoon, and he knew he couldn't be there to stop JJ all the time. He'd talk to JJ in the morning about telling Prentiss of the pregnancy, because he needed all the help he could get. He drifted off to sleep, thinking about how his life had changed from being a bachelor to father and husband to be in the shortest time. And he was thankful for it, more than he'd ever dreamed he'd have, or deserve. And he wouldn't change a thing.


	29. Chapter 29

Rossi awoke in the morning,with a still sleeping JJ resting on his chest. He was stiff as a board, and needed a shower in the worst way. He hadn't slept in his clothes in awhile, and he needed to get ready for the day. He gently laid JJ on the pillow, looking at the woman who was about to make him a father for the first time. He couldn't believe that JJ had thought he might not be thrilled with the prospect of a child. He'd just never found the right woman til now to have a child with. Dave hopped in the shower, dressed and went to have a chat with Hotch about keeping the deputy away from him as much as possible, especially when JJ was around.

JJ awoke to find her fiancé missing. She hauled herself out of bed, and realized that Dave had showered and left for now. JJ actually felt pretty good this morning, the morning sickness she'd been experiencing having disappeared somewhat. She readied for the day, and headed down to the restaurant, hoping to meet the rest of the team. Aside from some looks from Prentiss and Morgan, nothing was said about JJ's behavior yesterday. They all let it go, even JJ who was prepared to do her job and not let her emotions interfere with the work at hand.

The team convened back at the police station the next morning, and as Dave had promised, Hotch dealt with the little deputy that day. He herded her off from Rossi, assigned her to work with Morgan, and kept the peace between JJ and the rest of the team. Hotch didn't pretend to understand why JJ was acting the way she was, didn't lecture her, just did his best to help the situation and keep the investigation focused.

All was going very well, they finally were able to get a bead on a suspect. Every member of the team plus the law enforcement they were working with, convened on an old mansion, one that was huge. Hotch split the team into smaller teams, to search the house, looking for the suspect. They had it on good authority that the suspect was in there, so entered with caution when no one answered their knock. Hotch, Morgan and a couple of deputies took to the basement to search for the suspect, JJ, Reid and another couple of deputies took the top floor, while Rossi and Prentiss took the main floor.

JJ almost slugged Hotch for sending the little deputy that had caused her so much grief the last couple of days with her, but refrained. She was here to do a job, she had to be professional. Rossi watched her go up the stairs, worried because he knew their secret. But since it wasn't confirmed yet, and not wanting to be too overprotective, he refrained from saying anything. JJ was an FBI agent, doing her job, and he wasn't about to interfere. Plus, he realized pairing her on a team with the deputy that drove her nuts wasn't the best move on Hotch's part, but since he'd been good enough to keep them separated for the better part of the day, they couldn't complain. He pushed the worriesdown inside of him, and continued the search for the suspect.

Upstairs, the team did a sweep of the rooms, one by one, same as the team downstairs. The house was frigging huge, JJ thought to herself, how many rooms did there need to be? Her nervousness was starting to build, as they opened doors and still found no one. Nearing the end of the hallway, Reid opened a door and was slammed back against the wall. He crumpled to the ground, clutching his arm, as the suspect took off running. Just JJ's luck, she'd been paired with the little deputy who'd been going after Dave, and the deputy took off running after the suspect. JJ stopped long enough to make sure Reid was okay, and radioed the rest of the team to inform them they were chasing the suspect in the upper part of the house.

Rossi's heart skipped a beat when he heard that JJ was involved in a chase with the suspect they were searching for. He raced to the stairs, leaping up them as fast as he could. JJ left Reid to follow the deputy and suspect, racing as fast as she could. The suspect had thrown open a door to what she could only suspect was the attic, and she seen the deputy disappear up the steps. Against her better judgment, JJ followed suit, her gun drawn out in front of her. She slowly went up the stairs, thinking to herself "Oh, god, I need back up now!" wishing it wasn't her and the deputy. She opened the door at the top of the steps, and was shocked.

There stood the deputy with a gun to her head, the killers arm wrapped around her neck too. JJ couldn't get a clean shot in. And then JJ realized something else, something that horrified her. The unsub had a bomb strapped around him and a trigger in his hand. He laughed, and JJ looked around. Not only did he have a bomb on him, he'd surrounded the room in it also. Taking a step backwards to the attic door, JJ thought about reasoning with him, but she seen the maniacal look in his eye. She seen his thumb move and leaped for the open door, but it was too late. She was caught in the blast, being thrown down the stairs, out over the railing. JJ felt herself falling, falling, her back being hit by god knows what. And then mercifully, she blacked out, coming to rest on the landing of the house, debris falling all around her. And then there was silence.

Rossi reached the area first. He was on the upper level now, and he looked down, seeing JJ covered by debris on the landing of the house. He frantically raced back the way he came, heading down the stairs. By that time, the team that had been in the basement had made their way to the main level, and having heard the blast, confusion reigned. Hotch seen Dave running for the debris field and joined him. The two men frantically dug through the rubble, finally uncovering JJ, who was bleeding in several areas. They called for an ambulance, JJ lay there unconscious. Rossi wanted to move her, hold her in his arms, but didn't think it was the best thing for her. She was still breathing, that was the important thing, but her pulse was weak.

"Where's the damn ambulance, Hotch? It needs to get here NOW!"

"Dave, it's on it's way, I can't make it hurry any faster than it is. You need to collect yourself, for JJ's sake."

Hotch had never seen Rossi as frantic and upset as he was now. Granted, he'd never been in a situation where someone Dave loved had been hurt, but the man was almost going out of his mind. The ambulance and paramedics finally arrived, they carefully lifted JJ up and got her out of there. Rossi followed, the rest of the team wanting to go with them, but they would follow shortly. Rossi climbed into the back of the ambulance, holding JJ's hand, praying to god to save her and the child she carried.


	30. Chapter 30

Rossi was beside himself. Since they'd arrived at the hospital and JJ had disappeared through the doors, he'd heard very little from anyone, the last time he'd talked to anyone was when he informed the hospital staff that JJ was pregnant. He was upstairs in the surgical wing now, pacing a waiting room. He thought about the woman being operated on, and realized he'd never be the same if he lost her. He hoped to god she was okay, it broke him to see her crumpled on the floor like that, not moving. He now knew why there were fraternization policies. It wasn't only the sexual harassment issues, it was the personal relationships between agents. Rossi literally didn't care about the investigation at this particular moment. He just wanted to know whether the woman he loved was okay, and how their child was doing.

His mind tortured him as he paced, thinking he might lose everything he loved in the next room. Dave thought about JJ, unbelieving that he'd been so lucky to have everything and be so close to losing it at the same time. After about his 100th time back and forth in the hallway, Hotch and the team showed up, to wait with him. Prentiss hugged him, Morgan patted him on the back, and they all settled into the waiting room.

"Have they told you anything yet?" Hotch asked.

"Not a damn thing. I've been out here waiting the entire time, no one has told me anything. God, if I lose her..."

Hotch cut him off "You aren't going to lose her, Dave. JJ's a strong woman. She'll make it through. I know it."

"Yeah, but Hotch there is more to it than that. JJ's pregnant. She could lose the baby." Dave didn't want to admit it, but it was out there now. JJ would have his hide when she woke up, that he'd told Hotch about the baby.

Aaron looked at Dave, feeling even worse for the older man. "It'll be okay, Dave. We're all here for the two of you."

Prentiss stood up, looking at how strained and drawn Dave was. "I'm going to get you a coffee, Dave. I'll be right back."

Dave started to protest, only to be told by Prentiss that she wasn't taking no for an answer. Knowing she meant well, he finally agreed and Emily took Reid with her to help carry the coffee back. For a man who hadn't had a real family in a very long time, he sure felt loved and protected by the team sitting there. JJ was well-loved, that was for sure. Suddenly he thought "No one's told Garcia. She's going to kill me!" Looking at Hotch, he asked if anyone had phoned Penelope yet. Morgan heard him and informed him that he'd phone Penelope on the drive over to the hospital.

"What happened at the unsubs? What's the fall out there?" Rossi asked.

"He had the attic rigged to explode. When the deputy took after him, she fell right into his plans. He had no intention of being taken alive, and he was attempting to do maximum damage. It's a wonder no more people were killed, only him and her. JJ is damn lucky to be alive, she tried to get out in time."

"Yeah, but she didn't get out in time. Damn, she shouldn't have followed up those stairs!" Rossi said angrily.

"JJ was doing her job, just like you or I. You can't fault her on that. Whatever happens, happens Dave. I pray she will be alright, but don't be angry at her. That could be any of us in there." Hotch spoke to him softly.

Rossi put his face into his hands again, terrified he was going to lose the woman he loved. Her vest had protected her somewhat, but a lot of her injuries were internal, he was willing to bet. Which meant that there was a good possibility that their child was in trouble.

There they sat, the team waiting for any word on how JJ was. Finally, a doctor came out, wanting to know who next of kin may be. Rossi stood up to speak "I'm her fiancé, doctor, Dave Rossi."

"Mr. Rossi, Miss Jareau is in very serious condition. The blast and subsequent debris falling on her injured her quite severely. As a result, she broke some ribs, and had a fair amount of internal bleeding that took awhile for us to close up. But it looks likes she's going to pull through. Unfortunately, and I hate to tell you this sir, but Miss Jareau miscarried the child. I truly am sorry. We've checked her out, and it looks like she'll be perfectly fine to have children in the future. But the trauma Miss Jareau sustained, combined with the blood loss made her miscarry. Given time, she will be able to have more children."

Dave looked like he'd been hit with a baseball bat to the head, he was stunned. He'd known he was going to be a father less than 24 hours, and it was being ripped away from him. He stumbled backwards, falling into a chair. The others gathered around him for support. The doctor continued speaking, not sure if the man even heard his words now.

"She's being taken to recovery, then she'll be put into a private room. She won't know she's lost the child yet, so you may decide when to tell her. We're here for you Mr. Rossi. And again, I'm sorry for your loss."

With that, the doctor left, leaving a saddened group behind. Rossi held himself together, he had to be strong for Jen, when he told her that their child was gone. He knew how conflicted about the baby she'd been, and figured she'd blame herself for its loss. And as bad as he felt, he knew that Jen would feel a 1000 times worse.

"Aaron, I need to get out of here for a minute. I need time to clear my head. I'm heading outside. Can you come with me?" Rossi asked his friend.

"Sure, Dave. The rest will stay here, in case the nurses come out."

With that, the two men got in the elevator. They traveled down in silence, til they got outside. Rossi let out a howl of rage once they were alone. He wanted to hit something badly, and Aaron stopped him from hitting the tree they were next to.

"I know it hurts like hell, Dave, but you need to be all there for JJ. She's going to need you and need you badly when she regains consciousness. You being hurt is not going to help things. You have to take care of her."

Rossi looked at the younger man, and composed himself. Aaron was right. He needed to be there for JJ. Gathering himself up, straightening his jacket, they walked around the hospital grounds. Finally, Dave felt he was ready to go back in. They rode the elevator in silence, and met the team waiting at the elevators. The nurse finally had informed them that JJ was being moved to room 511, and it would be strictly one visitor at a time, if she felt up to it. They set off to that floor to find the waiting room there. Seated, they waited once again, the clock ticking slowly. Finally a nurse came out, JJ was calling for a Dave and he could go in now. With that, Rossi stood up, going to see his fiancé, knowing he was most likely going to be breaking her heart with the news.


	31. Chapter 31

Dave opened the room door and slowly entered the room. He seen JJ lying there, so still, bandaged in many places. He pulled a chair up beside her, taking her hand in his. Her hand looked so small to him. Her eyes fluttered open at the touch of his hand, her eyes focusing on his. She spoke, her voice hoarse sounding.

"I lost the baby, didn't I?" she whispered.

He couldn't speak, he merely nodded his head. Tears trickled down her cheek at the confirmation that she knew somehow. She clutched his hand, not wanting to let go.

"Are you disappointed in me? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone up into that attic, it's all my fault." she cried.

"Jen, don't talk like that. I could never be disappointed in you. It was not your fault, not at all. We all have jobs to do, it happens. Don't blame yourself." Dave looked at her, hoping she realized he didn't blame her for anything at all.

"It'll be okay, I promise. The doctor says we can have more children later, when you are better. Sometimes these things happen for a reason, and Jen, it's made me realize I love you more than ever. When I thought I was going to lose you , it nearly killed me. Everything will be alright." Rossi started crying too, hurt by the woman he loved hurting so much.

"You promise? You won't leave because I lost the baby? I know I wasn't sure about the pregnancy, but I never wanted to not have the baby. It was ours. And I lost it." she started crying again.

"JJ, you had no way of knowing that psycho had the attic wired. You got out of there in time, thank God. I don't know what I would do if you had died. It was so close."

"I know, Dave, I know. But I'm still here. I'm not going anywhere. And I'm glad you aren't either. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Jen. And we'll try again. When you are ready, we'll have our child. This one just wasn't meant to be. But we'll be okay, I promise you that." He kissed her hand, not wanting to ever let go.

At that, they sat there in silence, just glad to be with each other. As heartbroken as they felt, they'd discovered that if they could make it through this, they would be fine. Rossi seen flashes of JJ's humor, in spite of her pain. He was surprised when she quipped to him that she wanted to see him in a nurses's uniform, it was his turn to be naughty nurse when she got better.

"Well, I don't think I have the legs for it, hon, but I'll be as naughty as you want me to be when you feel up to it. I promise you this though, I'll look after you. I'll take as good a care of you as you did me when I was shot. Deal?"

"Deal. I love you Dave, always remember that." JJ looked wistful again. "I want to go home to Little Creek. I don't want to be here anymore."

"In a few days, hon, in a few days. You've just been operated on, your body needs time to recuperate."

"I want to go home to recuperate. I don't ever want to be in this town again." she insisted.

"We'll talk to the doctor about transferring you, okay?" Dave was desperate to calm her down, she was starting to get agitated.

"Fine. But when that plane takes off for DC, I'll be on it, whether I have to drag myself there." JJ said forcefully, and Rossi knew she meant it. He chose not to argue about it, just wanting her to remain calm.

"The team is outside waiting, do you want to see them?"

"Yeah, sure. Is Reid okay? He got slammed against the wall pretty hard."

"He's fine, he's worried sick about you. Do you want to see him first?"

"yeah, if you will Dave. Just as long as you come back soon. I don't want you to leave me."

"I'm here for you JJ, I am. I'll be right outside, waiting."

With that, he bent down to kiss her, before going to get Reid.

He stepped out, sending Reid in to see JJ. He approached Hotch, telling him that JJ was taking it a lot better than he'd expected.

"She wants to go home, she doesn't want to be here anymore. She's threatened to drag herself onto the airplane when we leave. Is there any way to transport her back with us? Because I swear she will do something to hurt herself to get out of this town."

"I'll see what I can arrange Dave. As soon as we are cleared by her doctors, we'll get her out of here. We can transfer her to a hospital in DC, get her close to home and Henry."

"Thanks, Hotch, I appreciate it. I'm going to owe you so many favors, it's not even funny."

Shortly after, Reid emerged, almost looking like he was going to cry too. The rest of the team did their visits with JJ, and then left Rossi there to head back to the hotel and arrange to get out of this town. Dave took his seat beside her, clutching her hand. He curled up in a chair beside her, not going to leave her side until she was out of the hospital, and both sleep, comforted by the touch of each others hands, knowing that they were going to be okay.


	32. Chapter 32

JJ awoke with a start, Henry crying in the night arousing her from her sleep. She slipped out of bed to head to Henry's room. He was usually a good sleeper through the night, but JJ didn't mind. In the three months since her miscarriage, she'd grown to love her son even more than she thought possible. Rossi and her were in a good place with each other, she'd never known a man to be more supportive than him. They'd mourned their loss together, he didn't push her for anything. As bad as she'd felt, the loss had opened both of them up to each other more than ever. She picked up Henry and rocked him back to sleep.

She remained in the chair for awhile, just rocking back and forth, thinking about all that had gone on in the last 3 months. It had taken awhile for her to recuperate from her injuries, but she had. Garcia had been a big help, throwing herself into wedding preparations with JJ. In record time, things had come together for them. The wedding was going to be held in Little Creek this weekend, both having chosen the spot that they considered home. JJ had moved permanently there when she was released from the hospital. Rossi had looked after her as promised, and eventually, when she'd gotten better had been her "naughty nurse". He had made an excellent nurse, looking after her in a variety of ways, some of which still made her blush.

"Penny for your thoughts, Jen. Why don't you come back to bed, he's sleeping again." Dave's soft voice asked her.

Startled, JJ looked at the doorway, wondering how long he'd been standing there. "I'll be there in a minute, I just have to lay him down."

With that, she got up and laid her son in his crib. Closing the door, she went back to bed, wanting nothing more than to snuggle with the man she loved. She slipped under the covers, curling her body around his. He started to stroke her arm, lazy strokes up and down. She started kissing his chest, which eventually lead to a whole lot more than kissing. The man could never get enough of her, he told her that on a daily basis, and she, well, she wanted nothing more than him. She didn't think she could trust or want any one more than him.

"God, I love you. I don't know what I'd ever do without you." JJ whispered to him afterwards.

"Me either, Jen, me either." He kissed the top of her head, everything he wanted here in his arms.

"Dave, I have something to tell you. I think I'm pregnant again. At least that's what the test said this morning." she reluctantly told him.

In response, he kissed her deeply, before speaking. "Are you sure? I mean, you don't think it's too soon , do you? Are you ready for this?"

"Never been more ready in my life. And this time, I'm absolutely sure this is what I want. I cried when I seen the little plus sign on the stick."

He rubbed her belly then, almost afraid to believe they were getting another chance at this happiness.

"Well, it's a good thing I'm making an honest woman of you this weekend." Dave wrapped his arms around her, not wanting to let her go.

The last few months had been a long haul for them. When JJ was transported back to DC, she'd been stubborn, refusing to talk about their loss with anyone. She'd thrown herself into planning the wedding with Garcia, keeping it as simple as possible, wanting to start their life together as husband and wife. His gentleness and patience with her made her heart swell with love. He helped look after her and she knew she never wanted to be apart from him. They'd only resumed their physical relationship a month ago, and JJ couldn't believe she'd gotten pregnant so quickly. Part of her did worry it was so soon, but the bigger part of her was happy. The baby wasn't a replacement for the one she'd lost, but it was made of the same love, and was very much wanted.

Curled in his arms, JJ thought about the wedding ahead of her this weekend. Penelope was to be her maid of honor, Hotch was Dave's best man. They were being wed down by the creek, with only close friends and family to be there with them. JJ had never been so happy, the pain of the past fading away, as she looked to the happiness that she now had before her. Finding out she was pregnant this morning, well, it was only the icing on the cake. Never had she been more sure of anything, and thanked god that she apparently had no trouble in conceiving.

Early the next morning, she was up and about, doing her normal routine. The final fitting for her dress was today, and Garcia was coming after work with some more decorations. They just needed to finish up, and then there were the bachelor and bachelorette parties to contend with tonight. The girls were having a lowkey celebration, and JJ was glad, especially since she now knew she was expecting again. One of her last nights as a single woman, and she couldn't even drink! She knew the guys were taking Rossi out for a round of barhopping, and she didn't begrudge him any activities he might indulge in, as long as it didn't involve him touching any woman. He could look but if she even got a hint he did anything else, he was a dead man, she'd promised him, and he absolutely believed her. She laughed at that thought though, knowing she had nothing to worry about, on that she'd bet her life.

JJ felt better than she had in a long time. She smiled as she made up her breakfast, and Rossi happened to enter the kitchen right then. "What are you smiling for, babe?" he asked her.

"I was just thinking about your big bachelor party. And how I know you're going to behave yourself at it." she chuckled.

"Oh, you're positive of that, are you?" a twinkle in his eye as he said it.

"Dave!" With that, JJ swatted him with a towel.

"Hon, I don't need to see any strippers, nothing can ever look as good as the woman I have right beside me." He kissed her at that.

"Well, as long as you know the deal, Dave, look, but don't touch. I know where to bury the body so nobody ever finds it."

"Trust me, I listened the first time. I wouldn't want to touch and risk everything I have. I don't want anyone else, ever." He wrapped his arms tight around her waist, from the back, kissing her neck.

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Rossi." she spooned some of her banana to feed him. "You behave yourself, and I'll give you you're own private dance when we're alone again."

"Promise?"

"Promise. I'm so good, you'll never want to leave me."

"I already know that, babe. Keep talking like this, we'll never make it to work." He kissed her neck and with that, got ready for work. They were getting a week off after the wedding, and they planned to stay at Little Creek for the duration. Two more days, and they would be husband and wife. Hurrying, they were out the door, looking forward to the end of the week and their wedding in two days. They'd had enough of grief, it was time for the good part of their life, and they couldn't imagine it without each other.


	33. Chapter 33

Saturday dawned bright and clear. Any nervousness that JJ may have had about the wedding had dissipated in the the last couple of days. Three more pregnancy tests seemed to positively confirm that she was, indeed, expecting David Rossi's child, once more. She wasn't paranoid about it, she wasn't going to walk around on eggshells, fearing she would lose this child. JJ had discovered she was a lot stronger than she'd previously thought. This child was wanted and loved, the loss of her baby 3 months ago had been a fluke, brought on by a destructive psychopath. JJ was healthy, happy and ready to marry the love of her life.

Rossi had spent the night in at Hotch's, complying to JJ's wishes of the groom not seeing the bride on the day of the wedding. Prentiss and Penelope had spent the night out here at Little Creek, finishing up the decorating and keeping the bride as happy as possible. JJ hadn't told them she was pregnant yet, wanting to keep the news to herself and Rossi for the time being. JJ looked out the window, at the setup down by the creek, where she would be taking her vows. She couldn't believe how happy she was with him, and now, she was marrying him. They were good for one another, that was for sure.

JJ went to the bathroom then, luxuriating in a bath before a knock on the door from Garcia led her to finally get up and going. It was time to get ready for the big day, Garcia had a friend who could do wonders with hair and makeup, and was going to prepare JJ for her big day. JJ put on her silk robe, and padded down to the living room, where everyone was buzzing around. JJ remained calm though, she had no doubts, and she left the worrying to everyone else. Garcia was the biggest butterfly, flitting here and there, determined that her friends wedding day would be perfect. Before long, JJ was back upstairs, the gown being slipped on. It was a gorgeous white satin gown, a strapless number with beautiful beadwork on it. JJ slipped into some satin slippers, and the veil was placed on her head, and with military precision, Garcia had her ready for photographs. As simple as JJ had tried to keep her wedding, Garcia had reasoned with her that she would want the memories to look back upon later. And it turned out, JJ agreed. She got Rossi to agree, too. At this point, the man would do anything to make her happy, but JJ didn't take advantage of him. She loved him too much for games and trickery.

With the girls in their stylish bridesmaid dresses, and JJ as beautiful a bride as anyone had ever seen, they started with the pictures. They did several outside, before heading back in, for some more traditional ones. It was while they were inside that the guests started to arrive, and shortly thereafter, the groom and company. It was almost time, and JJ felt herself tearing up at that. Not because of panic, but because she was marrying the man she loved, the father of her children. Henry was with the men, having spent the night with Dave at Hotch's. They'd picked a little suit out for him, he was going to be a part of the ceremony. She'd wanted him at the cabin, but Dave reasoned with her that the groomsmen had to stick together and had taken him with him.

Soon, it was time. All was done in preparation of the day, there was nothing left except to marry the man. She walked out the front door of the cabin, heading down to the creek. Everyone stood up for her, and she walked confidently down the aisle, towards the man she loved. He stood there, in a black suit, looking as handsome as he'd ever looked. Reid held Henry, he was the groomsman to Emily's bridesmaid. Henry was in a matching suit with the rest of them, gurgling away while being held by his godfather. And Reid, god bless him, held Henry like a pro, JJ thought to herself. She was proud of the man she thought of as her brother.

JJ finally stood beside the man she loved, he took her hands in his, and they turned to the minister. It should have been a Catholic ceremony, but they'd compromised on a minister for this ceremony. It didn't matter to him as much as it might have, but he went along with JJ. He didn't care, as long as he was legally married to her. They'd also written some of their own vows, and when the minister finished his part, JJ began to say what she meant with all her heart.

"David, when I first met you, so long ago, you changed my life. I didn't realize how much, until recently, and I bless the day I first set eyes on you. You have my heart, my soul, and all my love. I couldn't ask for a better lover, friend or husband, and I love you with all my heart. I'm honored that I am going to be your wife."

Dave's eyes seemed to tear up for a minute, and then he began to speak.

"Jennifer, you won my heart with your perfect smile, your loving heart. You have the biggest heart of anyone I have ever known, and I'm honored you have chosen to give it to me. You're my world, my love, my best friend. I love you."

At that, the minister asked if anyone had any objections to this union. Hearing no response, he then pronounced them husband and wife. JJ and Dave gave each other a deep kiss, JJ blushing when the guests whooped and hollared at them. The minister then said "I now present Mr. And Mrs. David and Jennifer Rossi."

JJ held up her bouquet, as if in victory and Dave had the widest smile on his face. Garcia was fighting back tears at her little JJ standing there as a bride, and the rest had wide grins on their faces as well. The guests headed for the area they'd set up for a reception,while the wedding party went and had their pictures taken once again. JJ made sure there were several shots with the team she considered her family. Then it was time to party, at least for awhile. It worked out fine for awhile, but JJ found she tired easily, and Garcia had pieced things together. For the second time where alcohol was at hand, JJ had refused it. She pulled JJ aside, intent on questioning her.

"Do you have a bun in the oven, sweetpea? Are you going to make me an aunt again?" Garcia was almost bouncing with anticipation.

"Garcia, why would you think that?" JJ said, trying to put her off.

"Well, you have turned down alcohol more times in the last few days then in your entire time I've known you. You're tired at your own wedding. What gives?" Garcia persisted.

"This goes no further than us. I only just found out, and I'm not jinxing it. Yes, I think I'm pregnant." JJ admitted to her.

Penelope almost went into a squeeing fit, happy for her friend with this double blessing on this day. For the rest of the day, she mothered her, making sure JJ wanted for nothing, taking care of Henry when fussy, generally proving to JJ why she was her best friend. And at the end, when JJ threw her bouquet, Garcia was the one to catch it, bringing about questions of who the lucky man would be. Even though she was still dating Kevin, everyone knew she still harbored a crush on Morgan, but Garcia took the teasing goodnaturedly.

When everyone was finally gone(and Henry was off with Garcia for the night, another gift from Garcia for the happy couple), Dave and JJ stood looking at each other, tired, but delighted. They were now married, bonded for ever as far as they were concerned. And once again, they reached in for a deep kiss, before Rossi suddenly scooped JJ up into his arms, and carried her across the threshold.

"Traditional, so I've been told." he whispered to her.

"Yeah, one of the few traditional things we've done." JJ laughed.

"Hey, I married you before the baby was born, didn't I?"

"Yes, but I was still knocked up before the wedding!" JJ laughed even further.

"Now, is it really my fault that you can't keep your hands off of me?" he teased her.

"It's entirely your fault. Damn you and your charm!" she said to him

"Well, let's go upstairs and I'll show you a traditional wedding night then." taking her hand in his, and leading him up to their room.

They entered the room, and JJ suddenly felt shy with the man she'd been with many times. Sensing her hesitancy, he brought her in for a kiss again, til she relaxed. He tugged carefully at the zipper on her dress, slowly taking it down, til she was finally able to step out of it. Next, he took the pins out of her hair, til it flowed freely. She helped dispose of his suit jacket, and began to unbutton his shirt, both of them working their way of their wedding finery, til she stood in a lacy bra and underwear set, and him only clad in his pants.

In one fluid motion, he picked her up and carried her to the bed. He quickly did away with the rest of what she was wearing, and she made quick work of his belt, helping to slide his pants off. Soon, it was skin on skin, JJ relishing the feel of the man, no her husband laying with her. He began a trail of kisses up and down her body, determined to conquer her, and it worked. She was his, body and soul as she'd told him when they wed. And never had that ever been more true, as he possessed her once again.


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N Sorry for the shorter chapter here, but after the longer one yesterday, I'm just wrapping up the morning after the wedding and one section might be a tad bit smutty. Hope you enjoy it!**

JJ awoke the next morning, stretching out in the bed she shared with her husband. She giggled when thought of that. HER husband. Never imagining that a year ago, she'd be with Dave, let alone married to him. It all seemed surreal, but she wouldn't have it any other way. He seemed to complete her in a way she'd never known. She sat up, watching him sleep. She reached out to brush a stray lock of hair away from his face, she loved his face. Yes, he wasn't young, but JJ realized it didn't matter. The man had a heart like no other, one that filled her with joy and warmth.

Rubbing her belly then, she reveled in the fact that she was having his child. People had wondered why she'd never married Will when she was expecting Henry, figuring that the JJ they knew would do the proper thing, marry the father of her child. She'd thought she'd loved him, but somewhere along the way, she'd realized that she'd only stayed because she was afraid, afraid that she'd never have anyone else to love. God, how wrong she'd been, and thank god she'd got out before her chance at happiness had evaporated.

JJ reached down, beginning to leave a trail of kisses down Rossi's chest, moving the covers down as she continued her journey. JJ was normally not this daring, but she wanted him awake and at attention, she needed to feel him inside of her, and getting him aroused would do that handily. She made her way back up his chest, her hands wandering over the rest of him. Before too long, she'd achieved her first goal, he had awakened and he began to return the favor, his hands gently exploring her body, his lips feathering her breast with kisses. He took one hard peak into his mouth, nipping at it, then switching to a gentle sucking on it. JJ was putty in his hands at that, melting back into the bed, arching upward to meet his probing tongue. He blazed a trail of kisses down her body then, stopping to kiss her belly. He came back up to her face, kissing her deeply.

JJ giggled, she couldn't help it. He stopped his kissing of her, asking "This amuses you?" with a puzzled look in his eye.

"I can't help it, Dave. I'm just so damn happy. You make me happy. I feel so complete when I'm with you." She reached in, kissing him deeply again. All thought of anything else was put on hold, as they took turns pleasuring one another, until finally, they joined again, and he collapsed on top of her.

"God, JJ, I love these morning wake up calls with you."Rossi groaned into her neck.

"If you're a good boy, you'll have them on a regular basis." JJ teased him

They lay together then, wrapped in each others arms. Neither was in a hurry to get up, they had the whole day ahead of them. Only when JJ felt the need for something to eat did they arise, throwing some clothes on, neither wanting to really get up, only doing so for the necessity.

They went downstairs, where it was still beautifully decorated for their wedding. Penelope had really gone all out for them.

"You know, we owe Garcia big time." Dave said to her.

"I know. And she took Henry for the night, above and beyond the duty of a maid of honor."

"Well, you know her better than I do, what can we get her?"

"Well, I'll think about it. I'm sure we'll come up with the perfect thing to repay Garcia." JJ reached into the fridge, finding a cup of yogurt. She slid up onto the counter top, grabbing a spoon, and began to eat it. Rossi made some coffee up, and went to face her. He slid between her legs, wrapping them around his waist, and reached up for a kiss. She put her yogurt down, and wrapped her arms around him. Only breaking apart when they needed air, JJ said to him "Let me eat! This child is hungry, and I will not deprive it!" and then she giggled.

"Oh, yes, my dear, by all means, eat. You need to keep your energy up, we're no where near the end of our honeymoon."

He settled for nibbling on her neck, while JJ ate. He only left when the coffee was done, needing a drink. He poured her one too, and got it ready for her. He knew already what she liked in her coffee. He brought both cups back and helped her down off of the counter top. They headed for the large living room, and settled together on the couch. Not the most romantic honeymoon destination, but both of them didn't care to travel. They only wanted to be with one another, and the scenery didn't matter.

Eventually, the coffee was forgotten, JJ was tightly ensconced in Dave's arms. And that's where she remained the rest of the day, the outside world forgotten. She was his, and he wasn't about to let her go.


	35. Chapter 35

JJ and Dave spent the rest of the honeymoon puttering around Little Creek, staying communication free from everyone, except for Garcia who had brought Henry back on Monday. She'd given them an extra day to themselves, since she was in on their little secret, so had taken Henry to daycare on Monday and brought him back Monday night.

"So, did you two get a little lovin' in, sweetcheeks?" Garcia teased JJ, who blushed a furious shade of red.

Rossi came up beside JJ to take Henry and said to her "You know it, Pen. All over the place. You may want to be careful where you sit."

Garcia and JJ looked at Dave in shock, hardly believing that Dave had said that. JJ swatted his arm, and said "DAVE!".

"What? It's partially true, and you know it!" he was having a hard time keeping from laughing.

"Well, too much information here, Mr. & Mrs. Rossi. I only came to drop your child off, not get a lesson in your love life!" Garcia couldn't stop laughing.

JJ merely stood there, mortified at the discussion of her sex life. Deciding to change the subject, she asked Garcia how Henry had behaved for her.

"Oh, my precious angel loves his auntie Penelope. He was a doll, the whole weekend. It's starting to give Kevin ideas for children. He's going to have to wait, I'm not quite ready for that step yet."

"Wow, I had no idea Kevin and you were that serious, Pen. I've really missed out on a lot the last three months. You've been so good taking care of helping me get better and this wedding, I haven't been a great friend to you." JJ started to tear up, her emotions getting the better of her.

"Uh, oh, Dave, it looks like the pregnancy hormones are starting to kick in already! You lucky dog, you, getting to deal with that. She was in pieces the last time, as I recall." Garcia teased her, trying to get her to laugh.

"Well, I don't care, Garcia, I can handle the hormones. JJ can cry all she wants, I'm here for her. He wrapped his free arm around JJ's shoulders, pulling her close to him.

"You know, you two are insanely cute together. Your child is going to be gorgeous!" Penelope was her usual enthusiastic self.

"Well, the only beauty the child will have will come from it's mother. There's nobody more beautiful." he said, before kissing the top of her head.

Garcia looked at the two of them and realized, really for the first time how much Dave did truly love JJ. JJ was one lucky woman she thought to herself.

"Well, there are no babies in my future, I'm not ready for that step yet. I have some questions I need to figure out, so JJ and I need to have a girls night. When this honeymoon is over, I need to borrow your wife to talk some things over, if that's okay with you all."

"Whenever JJ is up to it, feel free. You can always come here, I can secret myself away in my study, if you all wish, Penelope. It's not a problem."

"Dave, you're a peach. JJ really did get the pick of the crop in you."

"Aw, Pene, I got the best of everything. You are such a sweetheart, you look after me so well. I don't know what I'd ever do without you in my life." JJ reached in to hug her best friend.

"Garcia, do you want to stay for supper with us? It's no problem, we're having some chicken, there is plenty to go around." Rossi asked her.

"Sure, I'll stay for a little while. Thanks for the invite, I hate to intrude though. You are suppose to be on your honeymoon."

"Penelope, you aren't intruding, it's no problem. We'll just set an extra place." With that, Rossi handed Henry to JJ and went to the kitchen to set an extra plate. They settled down for their meal, laughing and joking at the fact that Garcia had ended up on their honeymoon, albeit just for a little while. The meal went by quickly, and Penelope, looked at the two, seeing how well they fit together. She had never seen that bonding with Will and JJ, in fact, she vaguely suspected that JJ had felt supremely unsure of why she was with Will. And that insecurity had lead to the break up of the two. But right here, right now, looking at them, she could see that JJ was completely in love with the man, and he with her. They were good for one another, that was plain to see.

The meal finished, they put the dishes away, and settled in the living room, having a coffee. Henry chattered away playing on the floor, while JJ was secured in Rossi's arms.

"So, Garcia, did you ever in your wildest dreams expect to see the two of us married?" Rossi asked her.

"Oh, my darling, you two aren't in my wildest dreams. That's reserved for one man, and one man only." she gave them a huge smile. "But I will say, it definetely came out of left field, the two of you hooking up. I seen your friendship, but I never knew that we'd be sitting here, you two married with a bun in the oven. You're just too damn cute together!"

"Yeah, well, it kind of took us by surprise too. I thought I'd lost JJ forever when she announced she was pregnant with Will's baby. Never thought I'd ever get my chance after that." He pulled her closer to him, knowing he was blessed.

"Well, as long as you don't go all caveman on me, demanding that I quit cases because of the danger, I think we'll be fine, Dave." JJ told him.

Rossi was actually a little uneasy with her working, but realized it was better to just let things be. When and if dangerous cases came up, he would clear it with Hotch and make sure she stayed away from the danger she'd faced just 3 months ago. He kissed the top of her head, just glad she was by his side.

Penelope finished her coffee up and got ready to leave. She kissed Henry one last time, and then gave JJ a huge hug.

Garcia finally pulled back, saying "Well, my lovelies, I'm out of here to let you enjoy the rest of your honeymoon alone. Have fun, and don't do anything I wouldn't do. And for god sakes, make sure you scotchguard the furniture, if you're christening the place!"

With that, Garcia was out the door, leaving JJ and Rossi laughing as she left, unbelieving of how good a friend they had in the blond computer tech. She was family, and they wouldn't have it any other way.


	36. Chapter 36

JJ entered the third month of her pregnancy with heavy bouts of morning sickness. It was an impossibility to hide her pregnancy from the team anymore. After she'd thrown up for the third time that morning, she'd made her way to the shower, and scrubbed herself. Morning sickness hadn't been this bad with Henry, but this was sure taking it's toll on her. Her emotions were out of whack too, any little thing set her off. So far, her only saving grace was that Rossi had been a saint with her. No matter her cravings(of which she'd had many already), her mood swings, or her sickness, he'd simply been beside her, holding her hand, bolstering her when she needed it most. The man was a saint, but she'd never tell him that. She thought back on how this pregnancy was different then her first. Her first one, she'd been by herself most of the time, separated by distance from Will. He'd never known the full extent of what her pregnancy had been all about.

This time around, different man, different experience. He wanted to be involved with everything. Today, after work, they were going to get a sonagram done, to see how the baby had grown, the development, the peace of mind for her that the baby was normal. She knew that losing their first child hadn't been anything wrong with her, the child was just not strong enough to survive the trauma JJ had been through. It still didn't change the fact that JJ worried about it. She finally got out of the shower and dressed for work. She went downstairs, seeing Rossi sitting with Henry feeding him breakfast.

"You okay, babe? You're so pale." Concern filled his voice.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, sweetie. It's a normal part of pregnancy. So, are you excited for this afternoon?" JJ smiled at him.

"You know it. I want to see Rossi junior kicking around in there. I can't believe I'm going to be a father, I never thought it would happen to me, I thought that boat sailed a long time ago." He reached over and kissed her on the cheek.

"Do you want to find out the sex of the baby? I mean, eventually, I know we probably can't find out today, but do you want to know ahead of time? Or do you want it to be a surprise?" JJ questioned him.

"Don't know yet, babe. Knowing would be nice, but surprises are nice, too, sweetheart." He smiled at her as he spoke.

"I'm kind of hoping for a girl, this time around." she told him shyly. She knew that he loved Henry like he was his son, but thought maybe that he'd want a biological son of his own. But looking at the way he acted with Henry, she thought that that might be a moot point. He loved Henry like he was his own.

They set off for work shortly thereafter, today was the day they were also telling the team. The fact JJ had managed to hide it this long was unbelievable. She thought she'd been found out when she'd actually thrown up after looking at some crime scene photos, stuff that normally had no effect on her. Prentiss had almost caught her then, when JJ had sneaked the waste can down to the janitor to be cleaned. At work, JJ had decided to call a team meeting, and announcing the pregnancy that way. She was prepared this time, relieved that the funny looks the team gave her when she would turn odd shades of green at various times would finally be explained.

When the team was gathered in the meeting room, JJ remained standing. Rossi came to stand beside her.

"First off, this gathering isn't about a case, at least not yet. Dave and I have a little announcement to make, and you all are my family, so we decided to tell you altogether. I'm expecting a little Rossi, and I'm due in 6 months. We kept it quiet this time, hoping we'd get past the point of where a miscarriage seemed likely, mostly because of what happened with my last pregnancy." JJ was breathless as she finished.

Hotch came up to her, happier with being told forthright this time, instead of having it blurted out by an expectant father who wanted to keep JJ from doing her job. He gave her a huge hug, delighted for his two friends. JJ held on to him, and said to him "Dave and I've been talking, and this time, we wondered if you would be this baby's godfather. We really want you to consider it, so let us know. You mean a lot to both of us, Hotch."

JJ could have sworn that Hotch blinked back tears at that, but chose not to say anything. She patted him on the back as he gave her another hug, and then the rest set in, shaking Rossi's hand, and hugging JJ. She was thrilled that the team took it so well, and relieved she didn't have to hide it anymore. And having told everyone, her morning sickness kicked in again, and she rushed for the bathroom, the one part of pregnancy that she endured.

They made it through the rest of the day and arrived for the sonagram on time. Garcia was looking after Henry for them, so it was just the two of them, there to experience seeing their child. It wasn't long after they got there that the doctor got down to work, squirting the gel onto her belly, JJ flinching from the cold, and then settling as he began to move the wand over her belly. JJ's bladder was full from the water she'd had to drink and as much as she was excited at seeing the baby, she had to pee badly. This thought caused her to giggle, but she sobered up when the doctor said "See here? This is your baby."

"Development looks normal, limbs appear to be fine. See this little line that looks like pearls? That's your baby's spine. And if you look closely, your little one is sucking it's thumb."

Rossi looked at JJ, then kissed her gently on the lips. _His_ child, it felt like an alien thought, but that baby was his. The reality of it, sitting in this tiny room, looking at their baby, he had never felt more proud of anything in his life. He loved the woman who carried his child, never wanting to be anywhere but with her. JJ looked at him, delighted at seeing their baby, so happy they could experience this together.

"Is the baby normal, Doctor Thompson? I mean, after I lost my last child, I worry so much about this one. Is there anything that looks like I could miscarry again?" JJ asked nervously.

"JJ, I believe this child is as normal as they come. I'm doing measurements right now, but it looks like all development is going normally. And the two situations aren't comparable, you lost your other child due to bodily trauma. It just wasn't strong enough to survive the beating your body took. There was nothing you could have done last time. And this child looks as healthy as I've seen. Of course, we'll keep a close eye on you, but I think you're in the clear on this one." Doctor Thompson tried to reassure her.

With that, JJ got weepy again, hardly believing her good fortune. Her baby was healthy, her husband was by her side, everything truly did seem to becoming eventually for her. She'd never been happier than she was right now, and she clutched Rossi's hand, so glad to have him by her side.


	37. Chapter 37

When JJ first felt the baby give a kick inside of her, she was thrilled. It eased her fears and worries that she would lose the baby when she first felt the tiny flutterings deep within her. When it happened, she was out in the field with Reid and Prentiss, they were on an away case, far from home, and Rossi was paired up with Morgan that day. She squeaked in excitement as she felt the flutterings, drawing the attention of her co-workers.

"It's just the first time I've felt the baby move. I really think this baby is going to be alright, you know that? I just wish Dave were here to tell him."

Prentiss smiled, and Reid merely tolerated it, as the idea of the baby moving squicked him out.

"Go ahead and phone him, JJ, we've got a few moments til we're at the sheriff's office. You should share with him, this is the first time around for him." Emily said to her.

"Thanks Em, for putting up with me. I'm just so excited about this baby, I forget that sometimes the rest of you all don't want to hear every little detail." she said, giving a look to Reid and smiling.

A few seconds later, she had her husband on the phone, chattering about the first movements of their offspring.

"JJ, sweetie, I'm sorry I missed it. Next time, you let me know, track me down, where ever I am."

"Dave, hon, I'm not sure you'll be able to feel it, I barely felt some of the movement myself!" JJ chuckled.

"Don't care, I want to be a part of this whole experience, I'm along for the whole ride, I want to experience every moment of this with you." he said, leaving no room for argument.

"Well, we're almost back at the sheriff's office, are you there?"

"No, we're out at the crime scene. We'll be back soon, I promise. And then my hand and your belly have an appointment with each other."

"Love you, Dave, see you in a bit."

"Love you too, sweetheart."

With that, JJ disconnected and then realized the looks that Emily and Reid were giving her.

"What, is it a crime to love your husband?" JJ asked them.

"JJ, you two are nauseatingly cute together, you know that?" Emily said.

"Emily, when the day comes, and it will, and you are talking to your husband like that, I'm going to remember this and then torment you about it." JJ giggled.

"Well, I'm afraid that boat may have passed me by. You're lucky you've had two donors to contribute to your cause." Emily said somewhat moodily.

"Geez, Em, what's eating you?" JJ said defensively, her good mood starting to evaporate.

"Just some personal problems, JJ, nothing to worry about. Listen, I'm sorry I'm cranky and I'm glad you are happy and all, but I'm just having a hard time dealing with it all right now. I'll get over it."

JJ let it go for now, but determined she would get to the bottom of things later. She glanced at Reid, who was driving, and noticed how clenched his fists were on the wheel. Neither had been talking to each other today, she'd noticed that, and they were doing their best to avoid talking to one another, which made working with them difficult. JJ was starting to put two and two together, and it was adding up to a strange fact that she found hard to believe. Was it possible that Reid and Prentiss were in a relationship? It was a real whoa moment for JJ, unbelieving that the two could have begun something. She'd always pegged Prentiss as having a thing for Hotch, maybe even Morgan, but Reid? Emily and her were going to be having a talk soon, much liked they'd tried to force JJ and Rossi together earlier, JJ was going to be the one to do the prying this time.

When they arrived back at the station, she watched the two practically run out of the vehicle, they needed to get away from one another. JJ thought to herself, that her and Rossi had never had these kind of moments, where they'd fought and couldn't bare to be around one another. Poor Emily, she thought to herself. With those thoughts pushed aside, JJ settled into her work at the station, waiting for her husband to return.

The away cases had become easier for the two of them, they shared hotel rooms now and JJ felt secure in her job, her love and her life. Yes, she was away from Henry, but when she was home, she more than made up the time she lost with him. Her son was growing in leaps and bounds, meeting his milestones, and was a bright, cheerful boy. She missed him a lot on these cases, but she dealt with it, and it seemed to help that Rossi was there by her side. Pregnancy and marriage had solidified their relationship, both respecting one another, and never once had Dave made an issue of her working throughout her pregnancy. He could have, especially with what had happened with her previous pregnancy, but he stood quietly by her, not interfering with her job. That made her love him all the more, thanking God she'd fallen in love with him, never wanting him to leave. She truly believe that if he left, it would kill her. She loved him more than she'd ever thought would be possible.

When he finally arrived back at the station, he'd cornered her, dragging her to the one interrogation room, placing his hand on her belly, and she was chuckling at this.

"Dave, I don't think the kid understands the concept of command performances! You're just going to have to wait, my dear. You'll be able to feel it eventually, but the little one has calmed theirselves right now." JJ told him.

"Don't care, JJ. I really want to be here for everything." he looked at her earnestly.

JJ stared at her husband, before taking his face in both her hands and kissing him gently on the lips.

"I knew there was a reason I loved you. You are without a doubt one of the sweetest people I've ever met. And I want you here for everything to. And I promise, anything else, I'll get you, okay?"

"Okay." Dave grudgingly agreed. He was thrilled at this chance, and since the day of the sonagram, he'd done his best to be there for everything for JJ. He didn't know if he'd ever get this opportunity again, and was determined not to miss a thing. He loved JJ more than he'd ever thought possible, and had watched with pride as she'd navigated this pregnancy and work. Yes, he'd been nervous about her field work, but had not interfered in any way to prevent her from doing the job. JJ was doing a great job of combining everything, and Dave was only to happy to help her do it. And as cliché as it might be, for her, he'd do anything.

They went back to work, shortly thereafter, and when they finally retired back to the hotel room that night, they lay on the bed together, his hand on her tummy. And when he felt the flutterings she'd described, he'd given her a long,deep kiss, glad that JJ was giving him this opportunity. And then he showed her how glad he was, before they fell asleep in each others arms.


	38. Chapter 38

When JJ and Dave arrived home, they immediately went to pick their son up from Garcia. They both desperately missed him, and with so much of their attention focused on the pregnancy, they both felt like they were maybe ignoring Henry a little bit. Dave had taken on more of Henry's care, as JJ felt tired and worn out a fair bit, and to be honest, it had helped him bond a lot more with the child he thought of as a son. He was excited about the new baby, never having experienced anything like this before. None of his wives had been pregnant, he'd never been around enough when his sisters had their children. The wonder of JJ carrying his child thrilled him, a fact that shocked him. He hadn't ever felt the need to have children, but this was a blessing to him, Henry and the one on the way. And not knowing if JJ would want more children, or whether they could, he intended to be as involved as he could in this pregnancy.

The flutterings he had barely felt had thrilled him. Caring for JJ as she was sick, well, he could handle that just find. JJ was tired? Not a problem, he'd take care of things. She had a craving for something in the middle of the night? He'd drive anywhere to find it for her. This love confused him, what he was willing to do to keep his wife happy and in comfort. And he had no idea when his love for her had grown this much. He knew that JJ loved him just as much, that she would do anything for him. He kept his worries in check, though, when they were on the job. He realized that a lot of the problem that she'd had with Will was his overprotectiveness, him wanting her to quit the job, and do something else. JJ went about her business, and thus far, there had been no complications.

They pulled up in front of Garcia's, ready to collect their son and head to Little Creek. JJ was more than a little tired, but she perked up when they went to Penelope's apartment. Knocking on her door, Garcia opened it up when she seen it was them, happy they were back home.

"Where's my little man?" JJ asked Garcia, who was busy hugging Dave.

"He's sleeping in my room, he went down for a nap soon after we got home. He should be getting up any time." Garcia replied.

"Penelope, me and you need to talk. It occurred to me on this trip that there is something up with two certain agents, and I want to know what you know." JJ full of curiosity said to her.

Her interest pq'd, Garcia looked at JJ, ready for some gossip, she was always ready for some good gossip.

"Oh, really. And which two agents may we be talking about?"

Dave sighed, not really wanting to be in on the gossip session, so excused himself to go see if Henry was awake yet. He entered Penelope's room, to see Henry chattering away to himself, laying on his back in the playpen. He seen Dave and immediately started to squeal excitedly, reaching his arms out to be picked up, which Dave gladly obliged. Dave gazed at the boy he thought of as his own, thanking God that the boy looked like JJ. Blue eyes, blond hair and a gorgeous smile, with which he granted a toothy grin at Dave. Dave kissed the top of his head, before getting Henry ready to head home to Little Creek.

Out in the living room, JJ was telling Garcia what she suspected was going on between their fellow agents.

"Do you really think that Reid and Emily have something going on?" Garcia said in disbelief. "If you'd have said that it was Emily and Hotch, I would have totally believed something was going on. But our boy, no way! I never thought Emily had any interest in him."

"Well, I don't know for sure, but she practically took my head off the other day, saying I was too "cutesy" with Dave and that she was having some problems. The two of them wouldn't talk to one another besides work related, and the tension was so thick, you could have cut it with a knife. It got my curiosity peaked. Of course, it might be my hormones talking here. I might be seeing romance where there is nothing."

"Well, you know us, we'll get to the bottom of it. Much like we did with you and Rossi." Garcia giggled.

"Yeah, and look at us now, married and expecting a baby." JJ smiled.

Dave came out then, Henry was dressed to go and had his bag ready. When he seen his mama, he reached his arms out, wanting to be held. JJ took him from Dave, holding him close to her. He gurgled happily, content to be in his mama's arms.

"What am I, chopped liver, my boy? Your mama comes home and you forget all about me?" Garcia laughed.

Henry let out a yell, waving his arms around, laughing along. With that, the three of them laughed along with him, and the Rossi family headed out the door. It had been a long trip, and the parents were tired, even though the son seemed to have plenty of energy to go. A half hour later, they pulled up in front of their cabin, happy to be home.

JJ and Dave grabbed a quick bite to eat, and then they settled down on the couch in front of the tv, watching a comedy movie that they both happened to agree upon. But she secretly thought that even if she'd wanted to watch a chick flick, that Dave would have gone with it. She didn't push it though, she knew she seemed to have him wrapped around her little finger. And she loved him to much to use that against hims, content that the man loved her enough to hold her hair back when she was sick in the mornings. She'd never felt more loved and protected and was glad every single day that this man had come into her life. Losing him now, she really did think it would kill her. They'd bonded in a way she'd never had with any other man, and she never wanted to lose that.


	39. Chapter 39

The next morning at the BAU, two of its members got down to work. There was a mystery to solve, and they were determined to find out what was up with two of their other members. JJ now knew how it felt to be on the other end of the equation, trying to determine what was going on with two members who looked like they were trying to keep a secret. JJ also figured payback was in order, given how Prentiss had pried so much into her and Rossi's early life together. Poor Reid was just collateral damage, given to the curiosity of a pregnant woman. Garcia would get hers eventually, but for now, JJ needed an ally in her quest for what was going on, and Garcia was excellent in prying secrets out of people.

They hit paydirt at lunch time. They'd invited Emily out to a nearby restaurant, in fact the restaurant that the others had all found out that JJ and Rossi were a couple. They'd chatted amicably about the baby and this and that, until a quiet settled over them when the meal came. Emily became quite melancholy at one point, enough so that Garcia brought it up to her, asking what was wrong.

"It's nothing, Penelope, nothing. Just haven't been sleeping well is all." Emily said.

"Losing sleep over a man?" JJ giggled.

Emily blushed red at the mention of that. Knowing she'd hit upon something, JJ kept going, albeit, she took on a different tactic.

"I'm sorry, Em, I didn't mean it. I was just teasing you. We're just worried about you, you are acting so different lately. And you've been there for me so many times, I just want to be here for you. We both do."

"Thanks JJ, I appreciate it. Yeah, I guess you could say I'm having some man problems right now. It's a relationship that probably should never have happened. And I'm just having a difficult time deciding what I'm going to do about it." Emily sighed.

"Is it anybody we know?" Garcia asked, point-blank.

Emily went redder in the face, if that was possible. "I'd rather not say, if you don't mind. If things work out, I'll let you know. Until then, we'll call him "Buddy", alright."

"Well, then, what exactly are your problems with "Buddy"?" Garcia jumped right in.

"We're having a difference of opinion on whether to take our relationship to the next level. We've been dating for about a month now, and one of us wants more than to be a casual date. One of us wants to become exclusive and one of us isn't sure it's a good idea. Too many people could get hurt, if things don't work out between us, and I don't know what to do." Emily revealed.

"So, have you sealed the deal with him? Do you know what you're getting before this is made exclusive? Because it would be a shame to become exclusive and then find out afterwards you aren't compatible in "certain" ways." Penelope blurted out.

Fixing Garcia with a look that would have destroyed lesser people, Emily ground out "No, the deal has not been sealed. And why am I even telling you this? Just so you can run and tell everybody else in the BAU?"

JJ jumped in then, "As I recall, a whole lot of people had a vested interest in mine and Rossi's relationship when we started dating. And we kept it within the team for the longest time. It's not the end of the world if people find out you are dating, Em."

"Easy for you to say, you ended up married to the guy. I can't even get "Buddy" to hold my hand any where other than in one of our places. I'm not exactly sure we'll make it. He seems to have a huge roadblock as far as relationships go, and I know I'm not the easiest person to deal with. I can compartmentalize things very well, but he has me at the end of my rope, and not sure exactly what I should do." Emily sighed.

"Em, it's the beginning of a relationship. Give it time to grow, and see how far you get. It's too early to worry about it being exclusive, you need to work on growing together. When it's right, you'll know it. If it's wrong, it may hurt, but you have to let it go." JJ told her.

"I know, JJ, I know. I think it's too late for me though, somewhere along the way, he captured my heart. And I'm not sure how to let him go, if he doesn't want to get more serious."

This was way more involved than JJ and Penelope had thought. Poor Prentiss had fallen, and fallen hard. Although she wouldn't say who, they strongly suspected it was Reid, even though they didn't have any proof. It must be hard for Emily, falling for a man that had so many doubts. And if it was Reid, well, that was a whole other set of circumstances that Emily was going to have to deal with. JJ reached in and hugged her, simply saying "Anytime you need to talk, you come to me, okay? I'm here for you anytime."

"Thanks, JJ, I appreciate it. I never thought I'd find somebody I wanted to be around, and it's hard to deal with it. I'm so good at compartmentalizing, and this time, I haven't been able to do that."

They finished lunch, turning the topic to other things, and when they headed back to the BAU, JJ escaped to her husband's office. She really needed to talk to him, and get his opinion on it.

Typically, Rossi took the high road, telling JJ they really shouldn't speculate on the lovelife of their teammates.

"Well, they all speculated about us! This is just a little payback for what they did to us!" JJ protested.

"Yes, and as I recall, you didn't like it one bit that everyone was speculating about us, and your need to keep things quiet. Maybe we should just leave the lovebirds be, to figure things out on their own. Let's not interfere, okay, JJ?" Rossi asked.

JJ narrowed her eyes, not liking what she was hearing. "Why should I give them a break? No one gave me a break when they were trying to throw us together."

"Well, that may be true, but if she is dating Reid, you have to remember that the poor boy was the only one not on your case about our relationship. So, that kind of evens the score out on that one." Rossi tried to reason with her.

"Damn you and your logic, Rossi. You had to come up with that argument, didn't you?" JJ conceded.

"Well, I know your hormones are on high alert right now, but I think we just need to take a step back, and let their relationship develop one way or another. And if he's as skittish as has been implied, the team knowing may totally scare him off."

Rossi came and stood in front of his wife, and reached in for a kiss on her lips. She leaned her head against his chest, happy that they didn't have to hide things anymore. He hugged her for a little while longer and then said to her "You may want to call off the other hound, so she backs off for awhile too."

"Oh, yeah. Well, that may be an impossibility, but I will go and talk to her. I promise!"

"You do that. And sweetheart, let it go. I know you want to know what's going on, and I'm sure Emily will tell you eventually. But pressing it may make her withdraw and you'll find out nothing anyway."

JJ thought about it and agreed that Dave could be right. Escaping his office, she headed down to Garcia's to talk to her, and finish out the day. Speculation would have to tide her over for now, inspite of her need to know the truth. And JJ realized also that curiosity killed the cat, and if she kept pressing, Emily might take it out on her, and she'd never find anything out. Better to hold off and find out from the horses mouth than to keep prying and never find out for sure. Either way, JJ was still determined to find out what was going on, one way or another.


	40. Chapter 40

**A/N another m rated chapter, but not too heavily. Thanks to everyone who is still reading and reviewing, I appreciate it! As always, I don't own the show, I only wish I did!**

For now, JJ let things go in her pursuit of what was going on with Emily. The rest of the week at work had proved uneventful in any case, with no further clues as to Emily's mystery man. Dave really didn't want her to pursue it right now, and while Emily was fair game for asking questions, JJ didn't want to go to Reid. He was like her little brother, and as much as she loved him, and would love to see him in a relationship with someone, she still wasn't going to talk to him outright about it. But for now, she was going to put it out of her mind.

What she did have on her mind was an evening with her husband. She was well in to her second trimester now, and she wanted some personal, very intimate time with her husband. Though she'd been tired coming home from their latest case, something had overtaken her today. She wanted her husband in the worst way, no matter where they were in the office. All he had to do was smile at her, and she was ready to drag him into one of their offices and have her way with him. She'd remembered from her first pregnancy that this was something that occasionally occurred in the second trimester, the need for intimacy, so once again, she could blame her hormones. As it was, he'd brushed his hand against her back in the elevator, and as they were alone, she'd planted a deep kiss on him, pinning him against the back of the elevator. Shocked was not the word to describe how Dave had looked. She'd only pulled away when they'd heard the ding of the elevator reaching it's destination, and for the sake of propriety, she'd released him. Both had been breathless as they'd walked into the BAU, JJ's eyes dancing with mischief. It was going to be an interesting day at work, that was for sure, because JJ was convinced that she wasn't going to be able to make it til they got home to have her husband.

She'd tried concentrating on work, going through various casefiles, until she'd finally thrown her hands up in frustration. Realizing that she'd made it to lunch hour, she decided that enough was enough. She had to have Dave, and she had to have him now. So, she phoned him, asking him to come to her office. When he'd arrived, he taken one look at her, and knew what was up. He came in, the blinds were already closed, and he turned and locked the door behind him.

JJ looked up into his dark brown eyes, she saw all the determination she always saw and he seen the determination in hers. Her gaze narrowed on his soft lips as he lowered his head to hers, she tried not to squeal in excitement when his mouth devoured hers. She barely noticed his hands were circling around her waist and were pulling her body hard against his, as he pried her mouth open with his tongue.

When she realized her own hands were idle she slid them up his hard chest and around his neck to bring his head down closer so she could set her feet firmly on the ground.

His hand came out and tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear and grinned softly. Her heart was still pounding and her chest still heaving but she lunged at him again crushing his mouth to hers, making this kiss much more demanding than the first. One hand held his head to her level and the other went down and squeezed one of his butt cheeks and brought his body close to hers again. He grunted in shock but he started to kiss her back with just as much force and vigor.

The kiss broke again when JJ felt her butt hit the end of the desk, thought they didn't stop for too long as he gripped her bottom and lifted her onto the desk top so he could fit perfectly between her knees. JJ's excitement grew, whether it was the thrill of doing the unexpected at work, or the threat of being discovered, hell, even the hormones, she wasn't sure which. All she knew was that she needed her husband, and needed him now, and apparently he was happy to oblige.

Dave began working on her neck, sucking gently on it, bringing her to a state of bliss. She threw her head back, exposing her throat, which he turned his attentions to. His mouth strayed further south, towards the v-neck of her shirt, while his hands wandered upwards under her sweater, cupping her already fuller breasts, which were tender. When she squeaked when he flicked them, he looked at her, wondering if was hurting her. Getting her permission to continue, he lifted her shirt over her head, exposing her breasts to him. Freeing them from their satin enclosure, he slowly sucked on one pert nipple, while she held his head firmly to her chest.

Her legs wrapped around him, and JJ couldn't take it anymore. Her hands headed for his belt, and she freed him, handling his already stiff member in her hand. He shoved her skirt up, and worked her underwear to the side, before plunging deep within his wife. She bit into his shoulder, burying her screams, not wanting the whole BAU to hear her and know what was going on between husband and wife in there.

Dave, for his part, didn't know what had come over his wife, but he was happy to oblige. From not wanting anyone to know they were in a relationship, to her doing this at work was an amazement to him. When they were finished, and redressed, he sat in JJ's chair, and she then straddled him, not wanting to stop touching him. She kissed him again, and they fooled around some more, until he finally put a stop to it, before they ended up having round two.

She rested her head on his chest then, and he asked her simply, "Why?"

"I just needed you Dave. I love you so much, and I just needed to feel you. I couldn't wait any longer. Blame the pregnancy, but honestly, I probably would have done you in the elevator before if I could have gotten away with it." she answered him.

"Wow, you certainly aren't a shrinking violet today, are you?" he chuckled. He'd enjoyed the unexpected encounter, the first time anything like this had occurred at work. JJ stroked his cheek, not wanting him to leave her office, but realized lunch time was coming to and end, and their coworkers would be back soon. Reluctant to disengage from him, she none the less did so, barely able to stand. Her husband was good at what he did, and her legs felt like jelly after this encounter. She knew how it was when she got the whole treatment, let alone a quickie in the office, she laughed to herself.

"You know, I want a repeat performance when we get home, hon. And I want the whole show, not just the preview like this was." she told him.

"Whatever you say, my dear. I'll be more than happy to give you the whole show. But be prepared, I want payment in kind." he whispered in her ear.

"You ain't seen nothing yet, sweetheart." she whispered to him, before giving him a deep, heartfelt kiss.

At this rate, a Friday afternoon at the BAU was going to drag forever, but they finally separated, and he headed out the door, leaving his wife satisfied and sated in his wake. Neither could wait for the day to end, with the promise of what was to come.


	41. Chapter 41

"JJ, I can't keep up with you. I don't know what's gotten into you, but you are wearing me out!" Dave said, as he collapsed against the covers on their bed.

"Sweetie, the only thing I need in me is you." JJ purred against his neck.

"Well, if you want me to live to see the birth of this child, I need a break! I can't keep up this pace!" an exhausted Rossi groaned to his wife.

Her second trimester in full swing, JJ had given into the fact that the man who had put her into this condition definetely got her motor running all the time. She'd worked hard to keep it under control, and save for that one encounter in her office, there hadn't been any repeat performances at work. Even given her state, and as good as the encounter had been, she'd returned to trying to keep it professional. Besides, she'd felt like everyone knew what they'd been doing behind closed doors that day, and she didn't care much for that feeling. So, she strived hard to keep her libido under control, but all bets were off for the man once they entered the cabin and Henry was preoccupied. He couldn't believe her stamina! The woman was ready all the time.

"Dave, come on. You know I love you. You should be proud I want you so much. You are a very attractive man, and you have what it takes to keep me going." she whispered to him, and then she straddled him again.

Dave looked up at his wife, the gleam in her eyes, and then down at her gently swollen belly. He reached up, and rubbed her tummy, where their child lay. The determined woman was getting her way once again, as David let her have his way with him, laying back while she took the lead. Pregnancy had brought a certain aggressive side out in his wife, one he didn't mind so much. If it made her happy, who was he to argue?

Satisfied for now, she collapsed beside him. "Dave, sweetie, you are a terrific man, do you know that?" she giggled.

"Yeah, tell me that when I can walk again. I swear JJ, I just might as well just permanently lay here. I think you only want me for one thing right now." Dave grumbled.

"Well, if I can't have the best, I don't want anything else. And you are the best, hon." JJ said in her sweetest voice.

Calmed for now, Dave pulled his wife in close, and rubbed her belly again. He wondered what the kid thought of all this extra activity, and whether it hurt the baby any. It didn't seem to bother JJ, and he knew he'd miss this after the baby arrived, and he couldn't do anything for awhile.

"So, have you thought of any baby names you might like? Are you partial to any names, hon?" JJ asked him.

"I've been thinking if it's a girl, maybe Natasha. What do you think of that?" Dave said quietly.

"It's a nice name, very nice. We could call her Tasha for short." JJ mulled it over.

"And if it's a boy, maybe David Jr.?" he asked with a hint of humor in his tone. He didn't expect her to agree to it, but put it out there anyway.

"Aww, that's so cute Dave! We could have a Rossi Jr. running around here!" JJ said excitedly.

"What about you? Any names in particular that appeal to you?" he asked, as his fingers stroked up and down her arm.

"I've thought about Maggie for a girl, maybe Jack for a boy. I'm totally not sure this time. I do like your picks though." JJ played with the hairs on his chest. Pulling a cover over the two of them, the pair lay there, content.

A while later, Henry cried out, and JJ got up and dressed, going to her son's room. She picked him up, and talked with him, all the while.

"Who's going to be a big brother? My little man is growing up so fast!" JJ talked with him, all the while Henry giggling and laughing with his mom. She walked out of the room with him, heading for the living room, turning on the tv when she got there. Settling on the floor with Henry, she played with him, watching him scoot around the floor. Henry had grown so much. He was walking now, and she thanked god she'd actually been there when he took his first steps. It was in this very living room he'd decided to perform that, and she'd grabbed a video camera and started recording . He'd said several words, and he'd called Dave Dada, shocking him. He'd immediately asked JJ if this was okay, because Will was still in the picture, as Henry's dad, and Dave didn't want to cause any trouble. She'd reassured him, and told him that she was proud that Henry thought of Dave as his father, it just proved how far they'd come since they'd first began their affair.

Will didn't see Henry very much, despite his good intentions when he'd first headed back to New Orleans. He didn't fly up very often, and he'd withdrawn even more when JJ had married Rossi. And when she'd told him she was expecting, he withdrew almost completely, almost shutting his son out of his life. As sad as this made JJ, she kind of expected it. Everything was final between the two of them, and JJ had effectively moved on, even if Will hadn't completely. So, Dave had fulfilled the father role, and JJ couldn't say she wasn't happy about that.

Dave came down and joined the two of them in the living room shortly thereafter. He watched the two blonds, heads together, conspiring seemingly, on the floor. He chuckled, loving the sight of his two blonds. He joined them on the floor, and Henry gurgled at him, putting his arms up, wanting his "dada". Dave happily obliged, content with being a family man, something he never thought he'd want or have. And he never wanted to lose it, now that he had everything in the world that mattered to him.


	42. Chapter 42

"No, no, no!" JJ said to herself, almost stamping her feet in anger. For the third time that day, something had screwed up, this time, her computer had decided to give out on her, and she lost the work she'd been doing on it. JJ found her emotions were very high right now, and even if things hadn't been going wrong, she probably would have felt like crying. As it was, she was very highly strung at the moment, and she'd had enough. She stomped out of her office, going to look for someone that she could cry on their shoulder. She knew her husband and Hotch were away from the office for a moment, and as she passed by, she didn't want to have a breakdown in the middle of the BAU, so she headed for Garcia's office. Besides, she knew that Penelope kept a stash of good chocolate in their, and her craving was kicking up. So, Garcia's computer room it was.

Knocking on the door, she heard Penelope say "Enter the chambers of the oracle". Laughing inspite of her bad mood, JJ went in. Seeing it was JJ, Penelope jumped up, glad to see her friend. JJ's belly was projecting more and more, and Garcia fussed over her, settling her in a chair, hoping she was comfortable.

"What can I do for you, my friend?"

"I need chocolate, and I need it now." JJ simply stated.

JJ wanting chocolate was unusual, so Garcia knew her friend was out of sorts. Reaching for her stash, she handed the box to JJ, which she greedily dug into.

"So, what's wrong that requires chocolate intervention?" Garcia gently asked.

Grimacing, JJ looked at Garcia, then she spilled out "Everything is the matter. I hate how I look, I hate how I feel. Work is irritating to say the least right now. I don't know how I'm suppose to do my job when my stupid computer decides to go belly up. These urges I'm having are driving me crazy. All I can think about is how lousy a mom I'll be, leaving two children in daycare, while I'm here trying to fix other people's problems. Just everything, Pen." With that out, JJ started crying.

Hugging her best friend close, all Garcia could say was "It's okay, sweetie, it's okay. Everything will work out fine, you know it will. You're a terrific mom, Henry couldn't ask for a better mom. You look beautiful, and I'm sure Dave has told you that plenty of times. And me, I'm a computer genius, so I'll go take care of your computer problems for you. What do you say?"

JJ looked at her friend and cried some more. Blubbering, all she could say was "How did I ever get a friend like you?"

"Luck, my dear, luck." Garcia giggled. "Now, do you care to tell me what urges you've been getting?"

JJ turned red in the face, and looked at the floor. "No, I don't care to tell you. It's way too embarrassing."

"You'll tell me someday, I'll get it out of you." Garcia laughed. They sat for a few minutes, till JJ felt better, and the chocolate supply was getting low.

"So, why didn't you tell this to Dave? Does he know how you feel?" Penelope asked JJ.

"He wasn't here, plus, I sometimes don't know how to talk to him, this pregnancy is taking it's toll on me. It's making me do things I wouldn't normally do. I wasn't even like this with my first pregnancy. Plus, the first time around, I didn't worry about nearly as much as this time. I should be happier this time, I have Dave here with me, I'm not alone like I was for part of the first pregnancy. Now, I'm scared I'm going to screw everything up, and I love Dave so much, it scares me."

"Honey, you know that Rossi loves you more than anything. And you know you won't screw up. Dave's here, I'm here, you have all of us to help you get by. Now, how about you let your resident computer genius look at your computer and get you back up and running?"

JJ smiled at her then, feeling better than she had all day. Pregnancy was certainly an emotional roller coaster for her this time, and she was glad she had Garcia to help her through. Rossi was also a rock, even though she suspected he was confused by her mood swings half the time, but he never complained. Standing up, Garcia held the door open for her, and they trotted off to JJ's office. In a matter of minutes, Garcia had her computer up and running. JJ hugged her, thanking her profusely.

"What can I do to repay you, Garcia?" JJ asked her.

"Replace the chocolates you ate, and we'll call it even, okay, sweetheart." Garcia said to her.

"Anything for you, you're the best, my friend."

Standing up, Garcia went to leave, telling JJ she'd see her later. Exiting the office, she ran into Rossi.

"I think you need to give your wife a hug. She really needs some support right now."

"What's the matter? Is she hurt?" he asked worriedly.

"No, she not hurt. She's pregnant, and her emotions are out of whack. She just needs you to hold her and tell her you love her." Garcia told him.

"Thanks, Penelope. Sometimes I don't know what we'd do without you."

With that, he knocked on JJ's door, before entering. She looked up to see her husband standing there, and almost started crying again. He shut the door behind him, before going over to her. She stood up, and he took her into his arms, just holding her, not wanting anything more than to just hold her and let her know how much he was there for her. He had no idea how long they just stood there, holding each other, all he knew was how right it felt, and how much he loved her. She clutched him like she'd never let go, feeling safe in his arms.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, he spoke "Are you okay, sweetheart? Is there anything I can do?"

"I'm okay Dave. I just needed you to hold me. I feel so bad about everything right now." JJ whispered against his chest.

"Jen, it's all going to be okay. Everything will be fine. I swear to you, everything will turn out fine."

"I only hope you're right Dave, I only hope your right."

With that, he held her tight against his chest, hoping to take her doubts out of her, and realized all he wanted to do was protect her from everything. It killed him to see his wife so sad, but realized it was mostly due to the hormones. And if all she needed was to be hugged, he'd be there for her whenever she needed.


	43. Chapter 43

Everyone was surprised at how long it took for JJ and Dave to have their first major fight. Both could be very passionate people, and the fact that they hadn't had a blowout in their almost entire year together had shocked everyone. The fact that it took place during a case, wasn't really so surprising. It was a case close to JJ, perhaps too close. An unsub in Florida was kidnapping pregnant women, their bodies found months after their disappearances, baby missing. Dave did not want JJ working the case, he thought it would be too much after everything JJ had gone through in the last year, but the pregnant agent was adamant, determined to do her job, not shirk her duties. All Dave wanted her to do was take a step back, let the rest of the team do the brunt of the work, protect her everything. As noble as this was, JJ didn't take to the idea very well.

"Do you think I can't do my job? Are you trying to make me seem incompetent in front of the local law enforcement? I'm damn good at my job, Dave. Don't try to shelter me from this, I've seen worse than this." JJ ground out, in the temporary office that the BAU was using.

"JJ, I never said you couldn't do your job. I'm trying to protect you from this brutality."

"I don't need protecting, Dave, I just need to do my job!" JJ shrieked, more on edge than usual. Whether she liked to admit it or not, this case was affecting her, more than she'd like to let on, and she was taking it out on the man she loved.

"JJ, it's done. Go back to the hotel, you're off this case. I already talked to Hotch, you're too close to it." Dave calmly said.

"Fine, I'll go back. But you better sure as hell have another room booked, because you aren't spending the night with me." With that, JJ stormed out, yelling to Emily that she needed a ride back to the hotel. Emily looked over at Dave, shrugged her shoulders and followed JJ out of the police station.

Hotch walked into the room recently vacated by JJ and said to Dave "Well, I guess she didn't take this very well, did she?"

"No shit, Sherlock. I'm rooming with you tonight, I've been bounced out!" Rossi finally let his anger out.

"Give her time to calm down. Go to her later on, she'll be more reasonable then. She just doesn't want anyone to think she can't do her job. And face it Dave, you shouldn't have brought it up here, you should have talked to her in private. She's more embarrassed than anything right now."

"I know, Hotch, I know. I think she's angry because she thinks I'm being to overprotective, and she's flashing back to her problems with Will. I have to tread carefully, and I think I seriously screwed up." a dejected Rossi said.

"It will turn out okay, just give her time to cool down. Phone Emily and tell her to stay with JJ for now. JJ will need a shoulder to cry on." Hotch patted him on the shoulder, and turned to leave.

Heading back to the hotel, JJ chewed about the situation the entire way. Emily laughed to herself, because she'd never seen JJ as worked up as this. She always knew that the two of them could burn bright with one another, and she'd never seen JJ this angry. Following her up to the room, she got an earful on Rossi the entire way. Emily finally spoke to JJ, which stopped JJ in her tracks.

"You know though, you've had your first real fight. You know what this means?" Emily asked her.

"No, what does it mean, Miss Smarty?" JJ growled.

"You get to have make-up sex now. And that is some of the best sex you'll ever have." Emily grinned at her.

JJ's mouth flopped open, considering what Emily had said. Finally, she spoke, "Well that may be just wonderful for some people, but you know what? He isn't coming near me. He already knocked me up, he's not getting anywhere near me for awhile."

Emily let out a snort. "You keep thinking that, honey. Even odds, he'll be back in your bed tonight, and you'll know what I'm talking about!"

JJ refused to argue the point, and switched tactics, trying to focus the conversation on Emily again.

"So, have you and your mystery man had make-up sex then?" JJ asked smartly.

Emily blushed red at that. "Maybe. Maybe not."

"Em, just tell me who your mystery man is, and if things are working out for you! Please, you'll make a hormonal pregnant woman happy!" JJ said, trying to worm things out for her.

"JJ, if I tell you, and this gets out, I'll kill you, regardless if you're pregnant or not, you understand me?" a deadly serious Prentiss focused on JJ.

Letting the two of them into JJ's hotel room, JJ turned to Em, and agreed. "Fine. If you tell me who your mystery man is, I swear on the life of my unborn child that I will not tell anyone. Even my husband, who I'm not talking to now, anyway, but just to make things clear to you."

"Jen, I've been seeing Reid. Now, before you start on me, on how odd it is, or how different we are, hear me out. We'd been growing closer and closer, since the thing with Cyrus. Somehow, we finally got it together enough to try and make a relationship work, but he doesn't want anyone to know. And if he knew I told you, he'd probably freak out more. So, please, don't tell anyone, not even Garcia. Please."

JJ took stock of things, realizing the bind she'd put Emily into. "Em, I won't tell anyone, I swear. No joke. I love Garcia, but I also know how she loves to joke, and I will do nothing to screw things up between the two of you. Can I just say, I love you two together? I kind of knew something was going on, how tense the two of you were around one another on the one case. You looked like you were going to kill each other, there was definetely something between the two of you."

"Thanks, JJ, I appreciate it. No one, you promised. Not even your rat bastard husband, as I believe you called him on the way back here. You do know he's only doing this to protect you, right? He's not calling into question your abilities as an FBI agent. He just doesn't want you to get hurt, and this case does cut close to home, given your current condition."

JJ groaned, realizing Emily was right. "I over reacted, didn't I?"

"Just a bit. But at least you get to have hot make-up sex though." she gave a wide grin as JJ blushed red. "But from what I hear, you've been putting the poor man through his paces the last month as it is."

"Maybe, maybe not." JJ grinned back.

"Well, the walls in this hotel are thin. I don't want to hear anything too loud, okay?" Emily laughed.

"Yeah, well, I don't really want to hear you and Reid going at it either, okay? We'll both keep it quiet, deal?" JJ said.

"Deal. Now, phone your man and let him know he doesn't have to book a separate hotel room tonight. I think the poor man was dying when we left him."

"Yeah, I know, Em, I know. I was too hard on him, wasn't I?"

"Well, hard maybe isn't the word, but you were a tad harsh. Give him a break, the man would go to the end of the world for you."

And with that, JJ picked up her phone, calling the man she loved, giving him the all clear to return to their room, and he didn't have to sleep alone.


	44. Chapter 44

**A/N This chapter is a very strong M, rated so because of the content. It's also longer than normal, but that can't be helped. Tracia wanted the makeup sex scene, so here it is! Hope you enjoy it! As usual, CM is not mine, I only wish it was!**

As it turned out, JJ couldn't get a hold of Rossi by telephone, so she sent him a text, and hoped he read it, knowing she was sorry. Tiredness overtook her, and she slipped into bed, needing to rest, after her emotional blowout that day. She crawled under the covers and was soon fast asleep, not hearing the storm that whipped up shortly afterwards.

Rossi, for his part, had a crappy day. The weather had turned against them, a fierce storm had started to rage, and they called it quits for the day. Thinking JJ was still mad at him for the longest time, it wasn't until after they'd got back to the station that he'd realized that JJ had texted him, saying she was sorry, and hoped he would forgive her. And that he was more than welcome to share her room once again. For the first time in hours, Dave smiled, and he let out a sigh of relief. He did not like to argue with JJ, they really hadn't since they had the blowout that had lead to their hookup so many months ago. Finishing up for the day, he told Hotch that he wasn't bunking with him after all. They headed back to the hotel shortly afterwards, and Dave almost ran to the room he shared with his beautiful wife.

He entered the room quietly, and noticed the lights were low. He soon realized JJ was asleep, and obviously had been for awhile. Deciding to take advantage of the situation, he disrobed quickly, leaving only his boxers on and slipped into bed beside her. She was laying on her side, and he spooned up against her, glad to hold his wife in his arms again. He stroked her side, getting a small sigh out of the still sleeping woman. He stepped up his efforts, kissing her neck gently and she awoke with a start then. Smiling when she realized her husband was beside her, she spoke "You're going to have to be quick, my husband could walk in at any moment!"

"Smart ass." was all Dave said, continuing his assault on the soft part of her neck. From there, it had snowballed as JJ took control, leaving Dave with a wide grin on his lips – the only thing sexier than JJ taking control was JJ _losing_ control, and that would be happening momentarily, Dave knew. Everything happened so quickly as the atmosphere outside quickly grew more volatile. As the thunder grew louder, kisses grew hungrier, more demanding. As lightning flashed more often, hands sought out more skin, more contact. And as the storm seemed to settle just overhead, Dave was lifting to a sitting position, JJ in his lap as their bodies, their hips, their lips moved together.

His tongue darted repeatedly into the warmth of her mouth, and JJ shivered at the invasion. She could feel his growing hardness against her, the sensation already causing her mind to short-circuit. She gave a soft moan of desire, her back arching slightly as she felt his warm hands along her thighs, kneading seductively at her soft skin.

Her hips moved against his as she straddled him. She felt his palms against her flushed cheeks, pulling her ever closer to him as he kissed her, their tongues dueling in a battle for control while the thunder raged overhead. Dave let out a groan, the friction between their bodies driving him out of his mind, even though the layers of fabric that continued to separate them – layers of fabric that just needed to be _gone._ There was little more arousing than the feel of her flushed, silky skin pressed against his own skin, and the more he thought about it, the more he needed it.

His touch glided downward, from her cheeks and over her shoulders, skimming along her sides before he brushed against the hem of the black t-shirt of his own that she had stolen to sleep in, just the thought of her pregnant body wearing his clothes, especially when the bottom of said shirt brushed high enough on her thighs to drive him insane.

With a gentle nibble at her lower lip, Dave snaked his hands beneath the soft fabric, loving the way JJ shuddered at his touch. His hands trailed upward, over her abdomen and back down again before skimming up her sides, just barely brushing the sides of her breasts. JJ sighed softly, breaking away from his lips to catch her breath while she still could. Her eyes locked with his, and Dave knew the darkened lust he saw in her eyes completely matched that in his own.

Guided by the growing challenge in her eyes, Dave slowly boldened his exploration, brushing the tips of his fingers inward in tantalizingly unhurried circles. He loved to tease her like this; gazing into her eyes, watching the need flit through them as he traced his fingers so close to where she wanted them, but so far away at the same time. But while he loved the slow teasing, Dave also knew there would be plenty of time for it later. Keeping that in mind, he allowed his fingertips to brush ever lightly over a pebbled nipple, and JJ gave a small gasp of pleasure, her back arching slightly as Dave's name fell from her lips.

Her reaction to that small motion had Dave shivering in anticipation of things to come, and with that thought, he drew his hands downward once more and bunched his fingers in the fabric of her – his, once upon a time – shirt. JJ instantly lifted her arms, allowing him to pull the shirt up and over her head before letting it fall forgotten on the floor below. JJ's hair fell tousled around her shoulders, and as she nibbled at her lower lip, Dave couldn't stave off a growl of desire at the sight of her straddling his hips, clad only in a lacy pair of panties. "God, you are beautiful," he growled, letting his eyes rake shamelessly over her curves.

Hiding the flush that filled her cheeks, JJ ducked her head, her lips seeking out the pulse point of his throat. She smiled, feeling Dave suck in a shaky breath as her lips kissed their way upward, following his jawline to his ear. With a low chuckle, she tugged gently at his earlobe with her teeth, making sure he could feel her breath on his skin as she released it. "I want you…" she murmured seductively, grinding her hips against his in emphasis.

And that was all Dave could take. Just as the storm above seemed to grow stronger, Dave's need for her was closing in on that breaking point. Pulling her close to him, he lay back and quickly rolled them, quieting JJ's whimper of protest with a bruising kiss. Her lips meshed with his all too eagerly, belying any outward objection she might've had to the sudden action.

But before she could become too lost in the kiss, his lips were gone, slowly tracing their way downward over her jaw and her throat. Closing his mouth over her pulse point, Dave suckled gently, giving a low hum against her skin. JJ sighed softly, and Dave felt her fingers at the back of his head, searching but failing to find any good amount of hair to grasp hold of. Dave smirked, continuing his slow journey southward, his fingers already ghosting along her breasts as his lips found their way to the valley between. Beneath him, JJ squirmed, an audible whimper of impatience falling from her lips as she anticipated his next move.

Feeling her tense beneath him, Dave chuckled, his fingers drifting over the flushed skin of her abdomen. Her curve where their child resided only made her more beautiful, and he stroked her gently. Her entire body was heated with desire, the very realization making him shift as his boxers grew even more uncomfortable around him. He shivered, desperate for some relief, but instead of seeking that for himself, he explored farther south along JJ's body, grinning as his fingertips found the hem of her panties. He lifted his head, his eyes on JJ's expression as he lightly teased her through the thin fabric, immediately feeling her arch beneath him as she let out a hiss of pleasure. "Liked that, hmm?" Dave said seductively, and if his tone wasn't enough to send trembles throughout her body, then the feel of his warm breath along her breast as once more he lowered his head certainly was.

She breathed heavily, trying to keep hold of some of her control, but that was exactly what Dave wanted her to let go of. As his fingers continued to just barely brush against her, he lowered his lips, finally closing his lips around a taut nipple, worrying it gently between his teeth. JJ hissed sharply as he repeated his motions in a maddening alternation of sharp teeth and soothing tongue, the dual sensations there and below nearly driving her up the wall.

And he was _still_ only barely touching her.

She wanted that remedied quickly. Instinctively JJ lifted her hips toward him, desperate for more contact, but as soon as she moved, his touch was gone, snickering playfully. JJ gave a whimper of protest, lifting her head to gaze poutily down at him. "Dave…"

Dave grinned, teasingly swirling his tongue once around her nipple. "Patience," he murmured playfully, pressing a gentle finger to her lips. He'd thought he had the upper hand, but Dave was the one groaning with desire as she tilted her head, pulling the tip of his finger between her lips and gently swirling her tongue around it. It sent a jolt of arousal to his already aching nether regions, and Dave breathed out deeply, gathering himself before he continued his sensual assault upon her body

Nudging her legs apart, Dave lowered his head, dusting the lightest of kisses over her thighs. JJ whimpered, her eyes closing as she felt him, so close but so far away from where she wanted him. Dave could feel the heat radiating from her, even through the thin fabric of her panties, and it was all he could do not to lose himself completely in the knowledge that soon he would be encased within that slick, silky warmth. The throbbing against his boxers was growing harder and harder to ignore, but he wasn't quite ready to succumb to that yet. No, he still had other plans.

A knowing grin on his lips, Dave lifted to his knees, hooking his thumbs in the sides of her panties, and with deft fingers, he slowly tugged at the silky fabric, sliding it effortlessly down her legs and away from her gorgeous body. She was completely naked before him, and just as it always did, the sight made him dizzy with desire.

JJ only heard one word, a muffled, strained whisper of "_gorgeous_," before he was out of her line of sight again. Her eyes closed, a soft smile on her lips as she felt the gentle brush of his lips along the inside of a knee, the gesture every bit as romantic as it was sexual.

Her thighs quivered in anticipation as Dave's lips traced their way upward, and as JJ lifted her head from the pillow, her eyes took in the picture of Dave grinning up at her from between her thighs, the warmth of his breath setting all her nerves alive. Biting her lip, JJ reached out a shaky hand, gently scratching at the back of his neck. "Dave…" she murmured, shivering as a flash of lightning in the night outside lit up the lusty glimmer in his dark eyes. Her breathing came in short, shallow gasp before he took her breath completely away, lowering his head and pressing an agonizingly feather-light kiss to her center, his eyes never breaking their contact with hers.

JJ gave a soft moan, her hips lifting involuntarily as they sought out more contact. Dave chuckled at her impatience, the sound against her sensitive core making her entire body tingle. To her very brief dismay, Dave immediately gripped her hips, holding her still, effectively taking away any control she had. JJ gave a whimper of protest, but it was a protest that faded quickly into oblivion as Dave's tongue snaked from between his lips, slowly teasing her sensitive area.. JJ shuddered uncontrollably, her lungs struggling to find oxygen.

It was the most exquisite torment, the slow, almost too gentle caress of his tongue. It felt so unbelievably good, but at the same time, JJ craved more. She stood so precariously upon that ledge, ready to fall over the edge into that dazed euphoria, the release her body sought so desperately. Except for the soft moans falling from her lips, her pleas were silent, but Dave must've heard them anyway. Smiling, he closed his lips around the small bundle of nerves, suckling gently. A low moan escaped JJ's lips, and as her entire body shuddered, her head fell back once more onto the pillow.

And then his fingers were there too, driving JJ into a frenzy of sensation as Dave slipped first one then two inside of her. The move sent JJ grasping for the sheets, her lungs gasping for air. "Dave!" she cried breathily, the tension coiling further and further within her, almost ready to burst.

The sight itself sent the remainder of Dave's blood rushing southward, leaving him both dizzy and utterly aroused. A light sheen of sweat covered her entire flushed body, making her shine in the half-light. Her fingers twisted tightly in the blankets, low whimpers escaping her mouth as she bit down on her lip, her eyes squeezed shut in the wake of Dave's sweet assault on her senses. His skilled tongue was driving her up the wall; she couldn't help the way her body writhed against him, almost as though struggling to get away from too much sensation while at the same time hungry for more.

Slowly he kissed his way up her glistening body, listening intently to the soft, contented sighs occasionally falling from her lips. "Oh, Dave…" she murmured slowly, her chest rising and falling as she struggled to catch her breath. "God…"

Dave couldn't stop the wide grin that slowly crept across his lips at her delirious murmurings, the glazed-over look in her eyes. There was no greater source of power than in knowing he could make JJ like this, that he could turn quiet, collected JJ into the shuddering, writhing JJ who called out his name in desire. His own desire was throbbing in a way that refused to be ignored, and as quickly as he possibly could, Dave shrugged out of his boxers, though it afforded little relief to his aching privates. The satisfied sighs still falling from JJ lips weren't helping him either.

Dusting kisses along her collarbone, Dave allowed his gaze to travel over a shoulder and along her arm, chuckling softly as his eyes reached her fingers, realizing that her tiny fists were still clenched in the bedsheets. With the gentlest of touches, Dave softly coaxed her to release them, watching as JJ's cheeks took on a light pink hue. Dave merely grinned down at her, tracing his thumb softly over her cheek.

Her hands now unoccupied, JJ looped her arms around Dave's neck, her fingers gently scratching at his skin as she pulled him down to her, letting their lips meet in a slow, lingering kiss.

She felt the depth of his arousal brush against her, the sensation and the ensuing train of thought consuming her body in an almost endless shiver. Her own desire was quickly reawakening, not yet raging like the storm outside, but with Dave's hands and lips caressing her so intimately, she knew it was only a short matter of time before she was desperately seeking the feeling of completion that only came from having him inside her.

Almost as though reading her mind, Dave thrust his hips against hers, pulling a low, throaty moan from her lips. Slow, lingering kisses once more slowly grew heated, tongues tangling in a contest of lust and desire. Breaths came heavily, the sound filling the room, mingling with sighs and moans and whimpers in the air. Before she even realized it, Dave's skilled fingers were between her legs again, and as soon as he touched her so sensitive area, JJ's entire body jerked, and she gasped in a shallow breath, hissing his name in pleasure. It was too much, though. She knew if she let him continue, it wouldn't be long until he led her once more over that precipice and into a few moments of blissful oblivion. She knew her body would have no objections to that, but as she let go this time, she wanted him inside her.

A flash of lightning lit up the night, and just as quickly JJ was on top again, leaving Dave in a state of confusion as her lips peppering hot kisses over his chest, feeling his muscles quiver and his breath hitch with each kiss. Dave groaned heavily, and with a smirk, JJ straightened up, her knees on either side of his thighs. The grin on her lips was devilish, matching perfectly the glimmer in her eyes. Holding his gaze unwaveringly, JJ took him in her hands, smirking at the hiss of pleasure that issued from his lips. With calculated motions, she worked her hands over him in a rhythm that was nothing less than maddening.

If her hands weren't already doing such a killer job on their own, the look in her eyes would surely be the death of Dave. His head went back, pressed deeply into the pillow as he struggled to keep his eyes on her. The occasional flashes of lightning that illuminated the dark for the briefest of seconds gave her pregnant body an almost ethereal glow, and if Dave had any control over his body whatsoever, he wouldn't simply be lying beneath her. His hands would once more be traveling her body, tracing over her tantalizing curves, his lips following the same path. But as long as JJ's hands worked their magic, Dave was utterly powerless. Groaning, he gave into the urge to close his eyes, breathing deeply. "God, JJ…"

"It's different when _you're_ not the one _doing_ the teasing, isn't it?" JJ breathed, her eyes locked on his face in aroused fascination. His eyes were screwed shut, his teeth nearly biting through his lower lip. A thin sheen of sweat had broken out on his forehead, and as he so visibly struggled for control, JJ felt the moisture rush to her own core. Hovering above him, she couldn't stop the shiver that raced through her body.

Dave stubbornly ignored her, sucking in a breath when she tightened her grip on him at his silence. He couldn't help it; involuntarily, he thrust against her hands, unable to keep his hips from moving. "JJ…" he moaned, knowing the desperation was plain in his voice, but at this point, he cared not about that. At this point, there was only one thing he wanted. "_Please_…"

JJ grinned deviously, only barely keeping the renewed ache between her legs at bay. Knowing they both were far more than ready, she gave a few more teasing strokes of her thumb, watching the expressions flit over his face as he struggled to hold on. "Well," she began, her voice low, sultry. "Since you said _please…_"

Positioning herself, JJ shuddered deeply as she slowly – _so _slowly – lowered herself on to him, her back arching as he penetrated her. Immediately she felt Dave's hands grasping her hips with an almost desperate grip. His eyes were squeezed shut in concentration, his lips pursed as he controlled the raging surge within him with deep breaths, and JJ watched him, a smile on her lips as she once more realized just how deliciously sexy he was, how amazing it felt to finally be one with him after what felt like an eternity of teasing.

A peal of thunder crashed overhead, and Dave's eyes came open, darkened with undeniable lust, unquestionable desire. His fingers kneaded at her hips, the softness of her skin beneath his touch overwhelming. For the briefest second, the room was once more illuminated by a close flash of lightning, and as his eyes took in the image before him, Dave found himself nearly losing it right there. To see her sitting astride him, desire in her blue eyes, her tousled blonde locks falling in waves over her shoulders, the ends of it just brushing against her breasts…Dave knew that image would fill his dreams for many a night to come. "God," he breathed, tracing his fingers along her sides, studying every last little quiver of her body. "You're so beautiful…"

JJ bit at her lip, a soft flush in her cheeks. His name left her lips in a shaky whimper as the touch of his fingers crept upward, along her sides, brushing her breasts. Her entire body felt as though on fire, and without breaking the intense eye contact between them, JJ experimentally shifted her hips, pulling a soft moan from the both of them. Sparks ignited at the base of her spine, slowly spreading the electricity through her entire body. Dave gave a low hiss of her name, his eyes closing once more as their bodies quickly adopted the same rhythm.

And it was perfect, as though their bodies were made to fit together, to move together like this. Skillfully, JJ rolled her hips against his, giving a soft moan of pleasure at her own actions. He felt _so_ good inside of her, and JJ couldn't help but make sure he knew that. "Oh, Dave…"

Dave shuddered, her movements sending the most exquisite jolts of pleasure through his entire body. It was all he could do to keep his eyes open; the desire to close them and give into sensation was great, but so was his desire to watch her as she moved on him. His hips moved slowly with hers, and he gave a deep groan of pleasure, his fingers skimming up her sides as he brought his hands to her breasts. Cupping them gently, he circled his thumbs over her nipples, his eyes entranced by the way she bit her lip in response. He increased the pressure slightly, only barely resisting the urge to sit up and take one pebbled peak between his lips.

JJ arched her back, her hips picking up a faster rhythm almost of their own volition. Her entire body had succumbed to an almost endless tremble as the tension within her began to tightly coil. Dave's eyes glittered devilishly, and he brought a hand ever slowly back downward, tracing like soft feathers over her rounded abdomen, and lower. The closer he moved, the more JJ stiffened, her body anticipating the touch of his fingers.

Her entire body jerked as his thumb brushed along her, adding even more sparks to the already exquisite sensation of just being one with him. The more she squirmed above him, the more pressure he placed upon the sensitive nub, easily sending JJ control into a tailspin. Her breath came in erratic, shallow gasps, and as she opened her eyes and looked down at him, the look in her lust-darkened blue eyes drove him wild. Gripping her hips, Dave gave a low growl and thrust upward, burying himself deep within her warmth.

JJ cried out, her body shaking above him. Wanting more of that reaction, Dave thrust again and again, rewarded as his name fell from her lips on a breathy cry. Her pink tongue slipped from her mouth in an attempt to moisten her lips, and Dave gave a low groan, suddenly overcome with the need to kiss her like he'd never kissed her before.

But even as he began to shift beneath her, JJ whimpered softly and leaned forward, her mouth eagerly seeking his as though she could read his mind. Her hair fell around them as their lips meshed, both not getting enough. Dave's arms looped around her, holding her close as their tongues teased and mingled, even as their hips still moved together in the most perfect rhythm.

The room was filled by the gentle chorus of soft moans and sighs, broken only occasionally by a sharp peal of thunder overhead. It was so easy for JJ to become lost in moments like this; moments where they were together and nothing felt anything less than sheer perfection. So lost as she was, it took her completely by surprise as Dave tightened his arms around her and gently rolled them, breaking the kiss as JJ gave a whimper of protest.

With the first deep thrust, JJ's protests died upon her lips, making way instead only for quiet pleas for more. More contact, more sensation, more Dave – she knew she could never get enough of him. Looping her arms around him, she felt his muscles ripple as he moved within her, pulling all the way out before slowly thrusting deep once more. Each thrust left her quivering, whimpering, and as Dave mixed in several short, quick thrusts, varying the rhythm and leaving her unable to predict his next moves, her whimpers slowly grew in pitch, becoming a repeating cry of his name.

The desperation in her voice was apparent, along with the erratic breaths she took and the delicious way her body squirmed beneath him with every thrust. For a moment he stilled, gazing down at her; her flushed cheeks, her tousled hair spread all over the pillows, the way she bit her lip in anticipation. He'd wanted to wait until she opened her eyes; he wanted to see the desire there again, but the mere image of her right now was enough to break his resolve. He thrust hard, from his lips falling a low curse and an aroused growl of her name. "Jen…"

JJ arched her back at the depth of his penetration, unable to control the string of mumbled incoherencies that left her lips. Her control was not her own; she was just that close. "So good…you feel – _"God!" _She was instantly cut off as Dave thrust deep again, reducing her entire being to the flow of electricity between their bodies, the exquisite feel of him inside her. Her nails raked down his back, and Dave buried his face against her shoulder, muffling the low grunt that spilled from his lips.

As his thrusts grew more and more erratic, JJ lifted her hips to meet every thrust, crying out as the one small move changed the angle of penetration completely. If it was good before, this was an entirely different world of good. "Dave…" she moaned, panting for breath as her head twisted from side to side on the pillow. "Dave…please…"

She was so beautiful as she squirmed beneath him, surrendering her control completely to him. It took his breath away, and Dave couldn't help but push harder, deeper as he found himself oh so determined to bring her over the edge.

He was close, _so_ close. And JJ was right there with him, if her breathy whimpers and the way her body writhed beneath him were any indication at all. Licking his lips, Dave thrust deep, groaning as JJ tried to pull him even closer to her. He lowered his head, nearly intoxicating himself with her scent as he brought his lips to her ear. A quick trace around the shell of her ear he made with his tongue, breathing hard as he whispered a quiet demand for her to let go.

And it was all she needed. One last hard thrust brought her to the edge and sent her crashing over it as she came _hard. _Her body spasmed wildly, her nails digging into his shoulders as she cried out his name, utterly lost in the power of her climax.

Dave collapsed beside her, and it took a few moments for JJ to come around, feeling so utterly satisfied and relaxed. Finally, she was able to form a sentence, "So, that's what makeup sex is like. Remind me to fight with you again, if the sex is going to be this good afterwards." With that, she started giggling, only stopping when Dave pulled her in for a deep kiss once again, relieved that things were right between the two of them again.


	45. Chapter 45

The next morning dawned bright and clear, the previous days storm leaving. In the hotel room, JJ and Dave awoke. JJ stretched out lazily, curling up along the length of her husband. Although she hated to part from him, she was feeling guilty for walking out on everyone the day before, so she detached herself and headed for the shower. Her husband had given her a good workout last night, and she needed to the warmth of the shower to soothe her body. Given the fact that she was pregnant, she couldn't believe how active the two of them had been last night.

She stood under the water, washing her baby bump. She had feared at one point that Dave would be turned off by her pregnant body, but he loved it. He used every opportunity he could to rub or touch the baby bump in some way. Thinking about it made JJ smile. Her husband surprised her at every turn, especially the way he was so involved with this pregnancy. She should have known that he would be somewhat protective of her, and the hormones made her react strongly. She just really wished she hadn't been so upset yesterday, but it had lead to one heck of a night for her. Sure, it was in a hotel room, but with the storm raging outside, and the storm raging inside, it had made for a wonderful night.

A knock on the bathroom door brought JJ out of her thoughts, and she heard Dave saying they needed to get a move on. Hotch had phoned, they'd gotten a break in the case and all hands were on deck. She wrapped herself in a large towel and stepped out, opening the door so Dave could catch a shower too. He grinned at her and reached in for a good morning kiss, smiling about last night. All she said was "behave yourself" before escaping out of the room to go get dressed for the day.

After they were ready, they headed out the door, and met Emily in the hallway. All it took was one glance from Em, and JJ turned beet red, remembering their discussion from yesterday. JJ's red face confirmed to Prentiss that JJ, indeed, had experienced makeup sex, and from the strut in Dave's step, it must have been quite something.

Leaning close to her, Emily said "Well, was it worth the fight?"

JJ didn't think she could get redder, but she did respond with "Definetely." and left it at that.

Reaching the station, they had a quick coffee before getting down to work. JJ held strong today, deferring on the case, and staying at the station, out of harms way when they realized that the suspect they were after had been under their noses all along. The take down was rough, so JJ was told when the team got back, but they did manage to find the latest pregnant victim alive. The suspect wasn't talking so far as to what had happened to the missing babies, but they hoped he would talk in interrogation. JJ stayed hidden in an office when they brought him through, a shiver running through her as she watched him being brought in. She hid her baby bump, the thought of that monster having done something to pregnant women finally hitting her. While she'd been angry the day before, she now realized what Dave had been trying to protect her from.

Twenty minutes later, Dave found her, head in her hands, sitting at that desk. Concerned, he went to her immediately and wanted to know what was wrong.

"I just don't want him to see me Dave. I finally realize what you were trying to protect me from. You brought him in here, and my skin is just crawling." JJ replied.

"Sweetheart, it's okay. He's been caught. But I'll make sure there is no way he can see you, and we'll get you out of here as soon as possible. I will never let him hurt you, understand? No one will harm you or this child, I promise." He held her hands in his, and regretted having scared JJ so much. Whatever he'd been trying to warn her of had finally kicked in, and had shaken JJ to the core.

"I know, Dave, I know. He can't get me, I understand that. But it still scares me. Can you get me out of here? I want to go back to the hotel, pack up and get out of here. I want to go hold my son."

"No problem, hon. Let's get ready, and the rest of the team should be ready momentarily. I promise." he tried to soothe her.

"Good. Let's get the hell out of here."

They both stood up and headed for the door. He left her standing there, making sure there was no way the prisoner could get a glance at JJ, and having secured that, he hustled his wife out of the station and to a waiting SUV. Relief poured through JJ the further they got away from the station, and she returned to her normal self.

"You know, it's okay to feel fear, JJ. I felt it yesterday, and I was wrong to try and protect you from it. You need to find out these things on your own. But I'll always be here to stand beside you. If I could give you my strength, I would, you know that."

JJ held his hand tightly, loving the man more than she thought was possible. Again, she wondered how she got so lucky having him to love. The man literally could take her breath away, and she wondered how they'd managed to find each other.

"Sweetie, do you think you could pull over?" she asked him.

"Anything for you. May I ask why?" he responded, while maneuvering to the side of the road.

She didn't answer him, she simply took off her seatbelt and wrapped her arms around him as best she could in the SUV. She nestled her head into the crook of his neck, taking in his scent, his strength. He held on to her as tight as he could, happy his wife trusted him so much. She had no idea how long they remained at the side of the road, but she couldn't bare to let him go. They didn't talk, they just held each other, and it scared JJ as how much she needed him.

Finally breaking away, she settled back into her seat, and gripped his hand tightly. They started down the road to the hotel again, ready to pack up and get out of this place. Not all cases affected them like this, but some hit too close to home for comfort, and this was one of them. The two of them had weathered a storm between them, and come out stronger for it, solidifying their relationship even more.

Two hours later, they were on the BAU jet, winging their way home. JJ again was holding her husbands hand, sleeping while leaning against him. And as they headed through the blue sky, Dave reached in and kissed his sleeping wife's head, vowing to himself that he would watch over her no matter what, allay her fears, and take care of her. She'd never have to fear something like this again.


	46. Chapter 46

**A/N Sorry for the delay in this chapter, and thanks for still reading! I appreciate everyone who is still along for the ride, and as always, I don't own CM!**

JJ awoke, still clutching Dave's hand. She looked at her husband and seen that he had drifted to sleep also. The plane was quiet, the team as a whole had been drained by this terrible case. It was a testament to their professionalism that the case was handled as well as it was. JJ was intrigued to see Emily and Reid sitting together, heads close, on the way home from the latest case. Normally, the two took great pains to never be seen anywhere near each other, and JJ only noticed because she was in on the secret. She looked at her two friends, and could see some small changes in the two of them, how good they seemed together. She didn't know what surprised her more, the fact that Reid was comfortable enough to be in a relationship with any woman, let alone a fellow agent, or the fact that Emily would get involved with Reid, and not be drove nuts by the facts he could come up with a seconds notice. Whatever, it wasn't her business, but she was happy for the two of them, glad that they had overcome whatever had had Emily so upset before.

JJ settled back into the seat of the plane, uncomfortable to say the least. She had been so bothered by that case, she couldn't wait to leave that town, this case behind. She thought of all she had to do in the next few weeks. Her pregnancy was in its 6th month, and it was time to begin trying to find a replacement for her maternity leave once again. Agent Todd was a no go, having been freaked out badly by the cases she'd dealt with in her brief time with the BAU. As bad as she wanted to find someone professional to take over, she wasn't ready to let go for a maternity leave again. It scared her that it had been so little time since her last leave, and she felt uneasy, like she could be easily replaced. This pregnancy had made her more unsure of herself then her first one. She didn't know why, she should have been more sure of herself, yet she felt like she was grasping at straws. The baby gave a strong kick, making JJ uncomfortable. This child was very active, always seeming to be on the move. Probably payback for the activities her mother had engaged in the night before, JJ chuckled to herself.

They hit a small bump of turbulence, which was enough to wake Dave up. He looked at his wife, rubbing her belly and smiled. All these small things, he was getting to be a part of, something he wasn't about to take for granted. Thinking back on the case they were flying home from, he felt sorry for those fathers who'd never gotten to see the end result of this. To have it so brutally ripped away from them was a horror he never wanted to experience.

"Baby giving you a hard time, sweetheart?" he whispered to her.

"Probably payback for our activities last night." JJ whispered to him, which caused him to chuckle out loud.

"Well, let's save the makeup sex for when you're not pregnant. As good as last night was, it will be much, much better when I'm not afraid of hurting you all the time." he kissed her fingers then.

"Well, I'd rather not fight anymore, but I'm willing if it will be as amazing to makeup as that was last night." JJ lay her head on his shoulder then.

They approached the airport shortly thereafter, and had to buckle up, ready to go home. They separated from their coworkers soon after, were on their way to Little Creek. They left Henry at Garcia's, since it was so late, and there was no use in getting the little boy up from his sleep. They'd pick him up early in the morning, and JJ was exhausted, and wanted to sleep. JJ was relieved to be at their home, she really loved to be there. They'd abandoned the plans to buy a place closer to work when she'd lost the baby the first time. Home was here, it felt like she'd always been here. They'd started work on the nursery for this baby, keeping it to neutral baby colours. Neither wanted to find out the sex of the baby beforehand, and what was important was that it was ready to occupy when the baby came home. Dave had painted the room a couple of weekends ago, and JJ had picked out some new furniture for the room. Since Henry still used so much of the baby stuff, they'd had to buy some new things, before getting new things to accommodate the growing toddler that Henry had turned into.

After their quick bedtime routine, they climbed into bed, and spooned next to one another. JJ tried to settle in, needing the sleep, feeling utterly exhausted, but her baby had other plans. As much as she usually loved to snuggle with Dave, the feeling of his arms wrapped around her, combined with the sheets, that just seemed to snake around her, JJ was utterly uncomfortable. This child was awake now, kicking away, making her utterly uncomfortable, as if to say "If I'm awake, everyone is going to be awake.!" .

Dave had fallen asleep easily, leaving JJ to fight for her sleep. She shifted, and as she did, Dave rolled over too. She shoved her pregnant belly against his back, figuring if she couldn't sleep because of the baby kicking, she was going to make it hard for Dave to sleep too. As expected, after a couple of very strong kicks, her husband woke back up, and turned to face her.

"Do you do that on purpose, sweetie?" he half chuckled in a sleep filled voice.

"Well, if this child doesn't want me to sleep, I need someone to talk to." she said back to him.

"Are you feeling okay? Are you in any pain?" concern filled his voice.

"Just a dull ache all over. Too much this week, I guess. The baby is active and playing hell with my body, and I just wish I could get some sleep." she said plaintively.

JJ switched directions again, spooning with Dave, as he enveloped her in a warm hug. They lay peacefully, Dave rubbing her belly, hoping to soothe her somewhat. The baby responded to his gentle swirls, slowly calming down, becoming less active. Sighing gratefully, JJ felt the ache in her body start to ease as the baby settled. The kicking settled to a less agitating pace, and JJ just enjoyed the gentle massaging of her belly. His other hand found his way to her back, pulling her closer, so he could rub her back as well. JJ enjoyed the soft kneading of his hands, which had a calming effect on her as well. Almost as if by magic, the baby settled right down, and JJ soon drifted off afterwards, the tension slipping out of her. Dave always had this effect on her, and she completely needed it right now.

For awhile before he too fell back to sleep, Dave kept up the massage, as much for his own sake as for JJ's. He needed her near, his fears from earlier easing too. He wanted to experience this whole thing right through, and couldn't wait for their child to be born. He drifted off to sleep, still rubbing his wife's pregnant belly, safe from the world in their little corner of paradise.


	47. Chapter 47

JJ awoke the next morning, still snuggled in Dave's embrace. His hand was still firmly on the baby bump, their child content for now. She smiled, happy with her lot in life. She'd never figured Dave for this big softie, that surprised her a lot. To hold her in his arms, rubbing her pregnant body, getting the child to calm down with his touch, she was absolutely floored by that. She didn't want to leave her little cocoon of happiness, but they did have to go and get Henry, whom they'd left with Garcia. She tried to break away from his surrounding arm, but he pulled her back to him, asking her where she was going.

"It's time to get up. We have to go and get Henry. Poor Garcia, she'll never want children of her own, always looking after ours." JJ giggled.

"It can wait two seconds. I want my morning kiss, woman!" and captured her lips in a kiss. One thing about Dave, he didn't care if she had morning breath, or whatever, he just loved to kiss his wife, no matter what.

JJ finally broke away, not really wanting to, but duty called. "Dave, we have to get going. But tonight, I expect to return to your arms and for you to keep this child calm again. You already have this baby under your control, listening to you. And if it means I can get some sleep, we can stay in each others arms every night like this. Deal?"

"JJ, you drive a hard bargain, but I accept your terms. I can't wait to hold you again tonight." Dave said, as he rolled out of bed.

"Me either, sweetheart, me either. But I just need to get dressed, and see our son. It feels like forever since I heard him say "mama" and I miss him like hell." JJ sighed.

"I know what you mean. You go shower, I'll get the coffee started. Anything you'd like me to make you for breakfast?" Dave asked, ever the gracious husband.

"Just some cereal and fruit, hon, nothing heavy. Oh, and a glass of milk too. And Dave?"

"What, sweetheart?"

"Thank you. And I love you. You are a sweetheart." JJ smiled at him and then turned and went into the bathroom.

Dave made his way down to the kitchen and swiftly did what he'd come down to do. For his wife, he'd do anything to make her day easier, and reflected back to his thoughts while holding her last night. JJ thrilled him, and he thanked God that she was in his life, giving him this opportunity. He'd fully expected to never marry again, never have a family, making his way to the end of this life on his own. Yes, he had good friends, but he had never expected to care about anyone like he did JJ ever again. The fact that he'd become a father at his age shocked him. He considered Henry his, and with another one on the way, he hoped he could be a good father to both of them.

It perhaps wasn't right, per se, that Henry called him dada, but with Will gone most of the time, Dave had pretty much become Henry's father, doing the things a dad would do. Dave treaded carefully however, not wanting to upset the balance that JJ had achieved in her life so far. Will came and went for visitation, but Dave had become the constant male presence in the young boys life, and he'd been thrilled that Henry had called him dada, would sit with him and squealed for him almost as much as for his mama when they were on away cases and got home. JJ was right, it was time to pick up their son, see him, even if it was only for a brief while before they dropped him in daycare. He already knew it would be one of those days where they'd pick Henry up from the daycare at lunch time and bring him up to one of their offices to spend time with him, let the boy know how much they'd both missed him. Garcia was a godsend, never complaining about the times she looked after him. Dave honestly did not know what they'd do without her.

The coffee had finished brewing and he helped himself to a cup, finishing it off quickly. JJ came down shortly thereafter, and after another brief kiss, he headed upstairs to shower and ready for the day himself. JJ helped herself to a cup, and settled at the counter, eating the breakfast Dave had laid out for her. She sighed contentedly, thanking god for the blessing of Dave in her life. She still didn't know quite exactly how they'd achieved all this, but here she was, pregnant with her second child, married to a coworker who she'd never expected to be with, let alone married to.

Sometimes it seemed surreal, all that had happened since that day she'd had the nerve to finally tell Will she couldn't live like that anymore. Jumping Dave hadn't been part of the plan when she'd done that, but she couldn't complain too much at the result. The speed with which they'd progressed into a relationship, and to marriage had surprised the hell out of her. She'd been with Will, he'd asked her to marry him, but she'd put it off, never giving him an answer. Perhaps it had been her minds way of telling her that it wasn't right with him, and sparing them both the agony of a divorce when things hadn't worked out.

Dave came down shortly after she finished her breakfast, and she was putting her dishes in the dishwasher, and was ready to go. JJ put on her jacket, grabbed her purse and was out the door.

"Dave, are you happy?" JJ asked him, out of the blue.

"Why would you ask that, Jen? You should know I'm happier than I've ever been in my life. You are my world, and I can't imagine you not being in it." Dave answered, keeping his eye on the road, wondering why JJ had brought it up.

"Well, I just wondered if you thought things had gone too fast between us. We started a relationship right after I dropped Will, we got pregnant, I lost the baby, we get married, I'm pregnant again. Sometimes I wonder if you feel trapped at all. Like it's a runaway train." JJ asked, curious as to his answer.

"JJ, never for one moment have I felt trapped by anything within our relationship. At this point, I can't imagine my life without you in it for one minute. I love you, and I believe everything happens for a reason. And I believe everything happened to put us here, in this relationship, with each other." he answered her honestly.

"So, you don't think we went from 0 to 60 in no time flat? You have an instant family, another one on the way. You're married for time number 4. You don't have any regrets at all?" JJ asked.

"Honey, the only regret I have is that I didn't act on my feelings sooner. But I wasn't about to step in when you were in a relationship with someone else. I don't do that, too much heartache. And when you were pregnant with Henry, I figured my chance was gone forever. I feel blessed I have this opportunity, so don't ever think I have any regrets about any of this at all."

JJ reached over and kissed her husband on the cheek. "Thanks, Dave. I needed to hear that. Sometimes, I just wonder if we rushed things. I just need reassuring every so often."

"JJ, we've been on this course for quite sometime, I believe. I still can't believe I was the one to influence you to join the FBI. But I thank God every day I have this chance. And believe me, I'll never let it go. You're everything I ever wanted or needed."

"Sweetheart, pull over for a minute, will you?" JJ asked him. He did as told, and as he put the vehicle in park, his wife pulled him into a big embrace, and then kissed him deeply.

"I don't know how I ever got to be so lucky as to have you, but you are my everything, David Rossi. I love you, and I always will." She kissed him again, and left Dave wondering what had brought this all on, but he simply returned the kiss. They got back on the road, and arrived at Garcia's shortly thereafter. As expected, Henry was quite excited to see his parents, showing his enthusiasm quite loudly. And for a little while the family was complete once again, before the brief reunion was interrupted by the day at hand.


	48. Chapter 48

The next couple of months flew by for JJ, and it was soon time for JJ to begin her maternity leave. As much as she'd loved how the team had been there for her when she went into labor the first time, this time she was plain worn out, and needed a little time before this child was born. She was in a very uncomfortable stage of her pregnancy, felt miserable and tired. Little Henry was running around like mad, a little busybody, just in to everything. JJ was relieved to have a little time before this child was born to spend with Henry. She'd trained her replacement, but could tell that the job already wasn't for her, so she figured she'd be back from her maternity leave early once again. As much as she missed her teammates, she didn't miss the work that much.

Dave would give her nightly updates, about work, and how much the newbie was doing a pretty good job, but he didn't dwell on it too much, because he knew that JJ didn't want to hear how well someone else was doing in her job. Dave had also decided he was taking some time off when the baby was born, just 2 weeks, but it would help JJ a bit. Thinking about her husband, JJ sighed, missing him. She'd grown so accustomed to seeing him almost every moment during the day, she felt lost without him. The baby gave a hard kick right then, taking JJ's breath away. Henry was discontent because he couldn't sit on JJ's lap that well, and showed his favoritism to Dave when he got home.

Dave noticed how morose JJ looked, and sat down on the couch with her. JJ swung her legs up on to him, relaxing for the first time that day. He gently rubbed her legs, and she sighed in appreciation. Henry was playing with his favorite toy on the floor.

"So, anything exciting happen at work? How did Sara do today?" JJ asked, curious inspite of herself.

"Okay, but I think she's overwhelmed somewhat. She's only been working without you for a few days, JJ. She has some pretty big shoes to fill." Dave told her.

"Well, she seemed quite nervous when I left. I wonder how she's going to do out in the field with you all. She's not quite the person I thought she was when I interviewed her. I wish Agent Todd would have come back, but when I contacted her, I got the distinct feeling she wanted to hang up on me when I identified myself. But at least she would know what to do." JJ sighed.

"I missed seeing you today, Jen. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be, not being able to drop in on you whenever I want. How long til I get you back to work?" he asked, kissing her hand.

JJ sighed, glad that her husband missed her as much as she missed him. "Not long, sweetheart, not long. It will only be a few months, and I'll be right back in that little office down the hall, at your beck and call."

Dave looked at her, grinning. "My beck and call girl? I like the sound of that."

"Dave, if I weren't as big as a whale, swollen and in discomfort, I'd show you how much I love you. But at this point, if you come near me, I may have to kill you." JJ grinned while she teased him.

Changing the subject, Dave told her some office gossip he'd picked up on, involving JJ's favorite secret couple at work, Reid and Prentiss. "Oh, guess who showed up to work together in the same vehicle today? Reid and Emily! I can't believe they would slip up like that, they've been so quiet about their relationship."

JJ looked a little shocked that Dave was partaking in some gossip, but couldn't let the opportunity pass. "Did anyone say anything to them? I know Garcia loves to tease, did she get any good zingers in? Damn, all the good stuff happens when I start my maternity leave!"

"No, every one kept it kind of on the down low. They actually think it's cute that the resident genius and the beautiful Emily are kind of cute together. He's definetely not so awkward anymore. And I think he's starting to dress better." Dave said in all earnestness.

JJ started to giggle at that. "You notice how Reid dresses? What's next, you'll tell me that Morgan didn't talk about his latest conquest?"

Dave almost blushed(if it were possible for him) and admitted that he knew the gossip that tended to fly around the office.

"Well, it's not that I go looking for it, Jen. I just happen to see and hear things. A good profiler has to keep their ears open." trying to not look like a nosy Nelly.

"You keep telling yourself that, Dave. Maybe you'll believe it yourself someday." JJ giggled.

"I have to phone Emily tonight, find out if they were trying to go public. I know I promised not to pry, but do they have to wait til I'm not there to come out as a couple? I feel so left out!" she pouted.

"Oh, Garcia sent home this with me." Dave said, fishing an envelope out of his pocket. "Top secret, or so I was warned that my eyes were not allowed to go anywhere near what she wrote."

JJ grabbed the envelope and tore it open. She quickly read what Garcia had wrote, and it left her smiling.

"So.......?" her husband asked.

"It's nothing much, Dave. Apparently, Garcia wants one last girl's night before this baby arrives, and wondered if the big man would mind this for the next available weekend, so that we could be here, at the cabin, so I didn't have to travel. She said she'd do anything you wanted to secure a weekend."

"And that required me not to open the note? I think Garcia is a little strange sometimes." Dave grumbled.

"I think she just wanted to get a reaction out of you. Because I'm suppose to tell her how you acted when I phone her." JJ giggled once again.

"Garcia does love her mysteries. And what if I say no?"

"Then I was suppose to persuade you in any way possible."

"Hm, I wonder what you could do to convince me......?"

"Forget it Dave. We're having a girls night, so buck up, and live with it." JJ smiled.

"Fine. But after you are in fighting form after the baby is born, I expect payback."

With that, he leaned in, kissing his wife on the lips.

"Deal. I love you sweetheart, but to tell you the truth, I want your child out of my body. I love the baby, but this whole pregnancy thing is overrated." JJ grumbled again.

"Well, you know there are things we could do to bring the baby on, you know." he suggested, a big grin on his face.

"Dave, we've already been through this, you aren't touching me. You try and touch me, I'm going to hurt you. Remember that."

"Well, I guess I've been told." Dave smiled at her.

JJ went to get up from the couch then, swinging her legs to the floor, off of her husbands lap. "You have. Now, do you think you could help me up off of here? It's getting a little harder to do that. Once I seem to get down here, I have a heck of a time getting back up."

"Anything for you, my dear. You know, you aren't the only one who hopes this baby is born soon. I want to see our child, and I want my wife back in more ways than one."

"Dave, if it weren't for the fact that you just helped me up off of here, I'd hit you."

"You know, I could outrun you, right? It's not much of a challenge when you are in this condition." he teased her some more.

"Shut it, Dave. Or you'll never get to touch me again, I promise."

With that, Dave complied with his wife, and scooped his son off the floor. "Well, Henry and I will go survey the outdoors. You have your chat with Garcia, and we'll be back in a bit."

With that, Dave got Henry ready to go outside, leaving JJ to her conversation with Garcia, and some

quiet time for a little while. JJ smiled, watching her men leave. Grinning, she went up the stairs to the bedroom, settled on the bed, and phoned Garcia.

"You've reached the all knowing Princess of Quantico. State your business, please." Garcia answered the phone cheerfully.

"Secret notes, Pen? Were you trying to drive my husband nuts?" JJ giggled into the phone.

"Aw, my little angelfish, not drive him nuts, but he's so much fun to play with. He thinks he's so in control, but it doesn't take much to throw him off his game where you are concerned."

"I knew you'd have a reason. It worked, he's kind of disgruntled as to why a girl's night would be a big secret. It's not like we haven't had one before."

"Yes, but at this one, we are definetely finding out what is happening between Emily and Reid. Did the hubby tell you that the two of them showed up at work together today? And that they were practically inseparable? How long has this been going on? Were you right before, when we were trying to guess if he was her mystery man?"

Garcia was full of questions, and JJ kind of felt guilty for not telling her before this that she knew of the other couple in the BAU. "And I suppose this is why you want a girl's night? To pump Emily for info?" JJ felt kind of disappointed, thinking that.

"Oh, that's only part of my plan, my dear. I really want another one with you before this child comes."

"Thanks, Pen, I needed to hear that. I've only been away from the office a few days , and I miss you all so much already. What if the new girl does so well, they don't want me back?"

"JJ, from what I seen today, you don't have much to worry about. She's a nice enough girl, but a little out of her depth. Everybody misses you, already, so relax. So, are we on for this weekend?" Garcia changed the subject abruptly.

"Sounds good, Pen. I'll talk to Dave, and I'll get back to you. I miss you guys so much, it's not even funny." JJ said wistfully.

"Yeah, I know, all these gruesome cases are so appealing and make you just want to be here so much."

"Well, it's not the cases, it's the helping people I miss. And all your sparkling personalities. I miss your witty banter so much." JJ giggled.

"You should, my dear, you should. We're your family, we miss you like crazy!" Garcia giggled back.

"Listen, Pen, I'm going to go now. I'm going to catch a catnap for now. I'll talk to you later, let you know if Dave has any other plans. But I think we're good."

"Sure thing, hon. Speak to you later!" With that, Garcia hung up, JJ rolled over, and was asleep in an instant, glad for a little time to herself, before her men came back.


	49. Chapter 49

**A/N this is almost the end of this fic. It was my first real, multi chapter fic, and it's been a blast to write it. But all good things must come to an end, and after this, I will wrap it up in the next few chapters. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me on this, and the reviews I've gotten. It's meant a lot to me, more than you know.**

JJ settled on the couch, with the large bowl of popcorn, and grabbed the remote. Emily and Penelope were here for a girls night, they had the movie in the dvd player, and if JJ was right, Emily was going to wish she'd not agreed to Garcia's "One last blast" before this baby was born. It wasn't like JJ was going to drop off the face of the earth, but with a baby and a toddler, free time would be at a minimum, so here they were, giggling like teenagers, settling in.

"Pass the popcorn, JJ, I need a fix!" Garcia said, and JJ dutifully passed it to her. As much as she liked popcorn, it wasn't sitting well with her tonight, and JJ had felt odd for most of the day. She put it off to how tired she felt, the waiting for this child, and not giving it any thought for the most part.

"How you feeling, JJ? I just want you to know, we miss you around the office. And Dave really misses you. You have that man wrapped around your finger, and he's lost without you." Emily told her.

"Where is the man, tonight, JJ? Where did he spirit your son off to?" Garcia asked.

"They are around here somewhere. I think Dave is getting Henry settled in for the night and then he's going to hole up in his study, working on his latest book. He promised that he would try and keep out of our hair. Got to love a man like that." JJ giggled.

Garcia went in for the kill on Emily then. "So, where is your mystery man tonight, Em? What's he up to while us girls are here?"

Emily sputtered a bit, not knowing what to say. Finally, the best she could do was "He's at home, I guess. I'm not locked to his side 24/7, I don't know what he does every minute of the day, Penelope."

"So, are you ever going to admit to us who you are dating, or are we to pretend we don't know forever?" Garcia said next.

"Pretend you don't know? What are you talking about? What do you know?" Emily was very flustered already.

"Well, the gossip around the building is that you and Reid showed up for work together the other morning. Is Reid your mystery man?"

Emily turned a deep red, and Garcia knew she'd hit pay dirt. "It IS Reid, isn't it? Oh, Em, if it is him, I'm so happy for the two of you. Whether you know it or not, you make each other happy. Reid has been as close to happy as I've seen him."

JJ kept out of it, keeping her promise to Emily to not let on that she knew. She knew that Emily had been very curious about her and Rossi beforehand, but she respected Emily's wishes for now. She twisted uncomfortably on the couch, a bit of pain in her abdomen. No contractions, so far, but she really wasn't expecting to go into labor anytime soon. She was just not feeling herself, and it was interfering with her ability to enjoy her time with her girls.

"Garcia, can we watch the movie? It's more interesting than my lovelife, by far. Please?" Emily said, trying to shake her off.

"Just admit you are dating him, and I won't mention a word, ever again." Garcia said back.

"Fine, I admit it. We've been seeing each other for quite awhile now. Just remember, not another word, ever. Not to him, not to anyone. He's still not comfortable with everyone knowing, so I'm keeping you at your word. Or I'll tell Morgan you still fantasize about him even though you are with Kevin."

Garcia glared at her, but did not contradict her, because it was actually true. The two of them drove a hard bargain with each other, but the issue ended with a handshake, and attention focused on the movie. They had fun the rest of the evening, even had a popcorn fight. When the movie ended, they popped another one in, and JJ said she had to go to the washroom before they started in. Emily stood up to help JJ off the couch, and as she did, JJ suddenly doubled over in pain. She grabbed Emily's hand tightly, waiting for the pain to pass. When it did, she finally straightened up.

"Are you okay, JJ? Was that a contraction?" Emily asked her. Before JJ could answer, her water broke, leaving no doubt that JJ's labor was beginning.

Garcia stood up then, starting to panic a little. "Are you ready for this, JJ? Do you have a bag packed? Should we get you to the hospital right now?"

"First off, Pen, get Dave down here, please. He's going to experience this the whole way through, he got me into this condition. I'd hate for him to miss all the fun." JJ said, her mouth clenched as she felt so uncomfortable.

"Secondly, Emily, could you get some towels, to help me clean this up? I don't want to leave it like this." JJ fussed, hating to leave a mess to clean up later.

Garcia flew up the stairs, heading for Dave's study, while Emily located some towels to clean it up. Dave came flying down the stairs a few moments later, followed by a fluster Garcia.

"Are you okay, sweetheart? Are you in a lot of pain? How far apart are the contractions?" Dave spoke in a rush.

"Don't no how far apart the contractions are yet, they've just started. But my water broke, so I think we better grab my bag and head into town. It's for the best, I think."

Once again, JJ found herself being cared for by her friends as she prepared to depart for the hospital. It was decided that Garcia and Emily would stay behind to care for Henry for now, and join them at the hospital later. The girls night came to an abrupt end, as they helped their friend down the steps of the cabin, and into Dave's SUV. The couple drove off for the hospital, with Emily and Penelope promising to inform the rest of the team of the impending arrival of the new Rossi child. Just before they pulled out, JJ let out another moan from a contraction, making the other two women look at each other, and internally vowing never to go through this themselves. However, the promise for one of them was already too late, a fact they just didn't know yet.


	50. Chapter 50

JJ moaned loudly when the next contraction hit her on the ride to the hospital. It was just as bad as she remembered from last time, painful as hell. Her husband kept giving her worried glances, this was his first time through this.

"Are you okay, hon? We'll be there in no time, I promise!"

"No, I'm not okay, Dave! Do I look like I'm okay?" JJ said. The contractions were coming much swifter this time than they had with Henry. From the moment her water broke, the contractions had been coming every 2 minutes, more or less.

"No, sweetie, you don't look okay. We'll be there as soon as possible, Garcia was phoning ahead to let them know we're on the way."

The rest of the trip was silent between the two, the silence only punctuated by the moaning coming from JJ's direction. He didn't know what to say to comfort her, his one try being met by JJ yelling at him. One of the contractions was very painful, and it happened to be one of the times when he'd dared to hold JJ's hand. She gripped his hand tightly when this contraction hit, and he soon let out a screech of pain as well, her grip was that strong.

"JJ, let go! It won't do either of us any good if I can't get us to the hospital because I'm in pain with a broken hand!"

JJ glared at Dave, and let go when the contraction ended. She began her breathing exercises, and they pulled up at the hospital shortly thereafter. He pulled into a parking space, got out and ran around to help JJ out of the SUV.

"Why do we have an SUV? Seriously, how big does a person have to be to get down from one of these things? All I want is my drugs, Dave. Lots and lots of drugs. I do not want a natural childbirth. I did with Henry, and you know what? It's over-rated. Seriously. Now, get me in there!"

Dave complied, wondering what had happened to his wife, who had replaced her with this creature that nothing seemed to suit. He grabbed her overnight bag to bring with them, and they set off to enter the hospital, JJ moaning the entire way. Once they entered, they went to the admitting desk, where his wife was quickly put through, a wheelchair located, and they were on their way to the maternity unit.

In the elevator, JJ managed to keep her sarcasm in check, probably because there was a nurse with them now, and Dave enjoyed the silence for the time being. They were whisked into a room and JJ was given a gown to change into. She disappeared into the small bathroom to change, leaving Dave standing there, looking lost.

"This your first child, sir?" The nurse asked him.

"How'd you know?" Dave replied, puzzled.

"Expression on your face. We've been down this road before, we see a lot of first time fathers looking this way. Like your wife has been replaced with someone else? Don't worry, it will get better. By the end, she will need you more than she's ever needed you to get through this. Just remember it's the pain talking, she doesn't really mean anything she says, no matter how bad it gets."

"Thanks. I'll try to keep it in mind." Dave was already pale, not believing this.

JJ came out of the bathroom shortly afterwards, and climbed onto the birthing bed. The nurses fussed over her then, taking her vitals before checking her dilation.

"You're already at 5 centimeters, that is excellent! This is the active labor stage. Once we get to 10, we're all set to have a baby!"

"Geez, you think? I've been through this before, I kind of know the drill, lady. Do me a favor, don't be so cheerful, I'm not exactly in the mood for it." JJ ground out.

The nurse smiled at Dave when JJ said this, and commented "Just remember, it's the pain talking."

With that, the nurse took off her gloves, and turned to leave the room for a minute, leaving Dave and JJ alone again. Dave looked at his wife, and wanted to help her get through the pain, but was at a loss.

"Dave, can you get me some ice chips to chew on? Please?" JJ asked sweetly.

"Sure hon, no problem." Dave went to the small room beside the labor room, and located a small fridge. He filled a cup with ice chips, taking it back to her. The doctor was in the room then, and administrating the drugs that would ease JJ's pain. The effect was almost immediate, JJ relaxing back into the bed.

The nursing team fussed over her for a little while longer, but with the contractions coming so often, the drugs only took the edge off the pain. She was still writhing sometimes, but she seemed able to handle it now. Dave had no idea how long they'd been there, when a nurse came in,saying there were a bunch of people in the waiting room, asking how JJ was doing. He told JJ that it seemed that the team was there, and he was going to go give them an update on the situation. He left her with a nurse, and headed out to see their friends. He entered the waiting room, to see all the team awaiting news of JJ.

Garcia seen him first, jumping up from the chair she'd been sitting in.

"How is she? How much longer?"she said excitedly.

"She's doing fine, Garcia. Don't know how much longer, time will tell. Now, where's Henry? Who's looking after him?" Dave wanted to know.

"I recruited Kevin to look after him. Henry gets along with him well enough, he's spent a lot of time at my place while I've had Henry. So, he's in good hands."

"Ah, okay then. I'll keep you updated on the situation, but as of now, she's still having contractions, and isn't ready to go yet. But, if you are all here for the show, take a seat, and I'll get back to you on when the baby is born."

"My little gumdrop, I don't know why she does this to herself. And so soon after Henry! I would have waited another few years before I put myself through this again!" Garcia exclaimed.

Dave said nothing, he was excited that this child was almost here. He excused himself, and went back to help his wife through the rest of the birth, hoping the rest of the time would pass quickly and his son or daughter would make their debut.


	51. Chapter 51

**A/N Well, after all these chapters, I've finally reached the end of the road for this fic. Thanks for reading, I really appreciate that you've kept with me. I still have my other story going on, so if it's JJ/Rossi you are after, you can check out Dreams. I'm sorry it's at the end, I've had a lot of fun doing this, never thinking I could get out one chapter, let alone 51. So, thanks for reading and reviewing, it's been a delight!**

After 8 hours of labor, JJ gave a final push and their daughter entered the world. JJ sobbed as she did so, tired and just wanting it to be over with.

"It's a girl!" her doctor said.

JJ sighed, happy that she now had a daughter. The baby gave out a huge cry, and the doctor laid her on JJ's tummy, allowing JJ and Dave to see their creation. Dave cut the cord, when the scissors were offered to him, and the nurses whisked the baby away to weigh, measure and clean her up.

"You did great, Jen, really great. She's beautiful, just beautiful." Dave said, kissing JJ's brow.

The last few hours had been nerve wracking for him, seeing how much discomfort his wife was in, but he supposed it was not different than any other woman giving birth. The only difference was, this meant something to him, this was his wife having the baby. JJ was tired, but in the end, all had turned out well. He knew he was going to have a huge bruise on his right arm, she'd punched him once and screamed that if he ever came near her again, she'd shoot him, she had a gun and knew how to use it.

"Where is she? When can I hold her?" JJ asked.

"They're getting her ready, don't worry, she'll be in your arms soon. So, have we decided on a name, or is it going to be "her" for now?" Dave chuckled.

"I don't know now, Dave, I have to see her first!" JJ said tiredly.

Finally the nurse came over, handing JJ her daughter, wrapped in a blanket, with a little pink hat now on her head. JJ rocked her back and forth in her arms, awed by how wonderful it was, holding this baby. Dave sat with her, looking at the two of them, marveling that the baby had deep blue eyes like her mama.

"Look what we did, sweetie! She's beautiful." JJ said to him. "Do you want to hold her now?"

Dave nodded, almost afraid to hold something this tiny, but he did a fine job. The baby looked up at him, not fussing at all, just seeming to know that she was safe in this man's arms.

"She looks just like you, Jen. Probably a good thing." Dave said.

"Dave, she's beautiful, no matter who she looks like. She'd be just as beautiful to me." JJ took the baby's tiny finger in her hand, experiencing the same joy she'd felt when she'd had Henry.

Dave smiled at his two girls, and relinquished her to JJ again. The doctor was finishing up with JJ, and they were going to transfer her to a room. They cleaned her up, and away they went, an almost complete family, minus their son. When JJ was settled in her new room, Dave went to find the team, to tell them the news. He found them in various states of consciousness, tired in the waiting room.

"It's a girl!" he announced, proud as a peacock.

"Congrats, Dave! That's wonderful!" Garcia said with glee. He could tell she was already thinking up ways to dress her up, just as she had with Henry. For a second, Dave had thoughts of his daughter being outfitted in a black leather mini skirt, an accompaniment to the black leather jacket she'd given Henry. He shook off the image, as the rest gathered around, patting him on the back, wondering when they'd get in to see the new mom.

"Give her a few minutes, she's wiped out yet. You can come see her and the baby shortly." Dave told them.

"Have you decided on a name yet?" Morgan asked. "Or are we to refer to her as "baby"?" he laughed.

"We'll let you know shortly. JJ's thinking about it. Again." Dave chuckled.

Dave turned to head back to JJ, giving them her room number first. He quickly returned to his wife and daughter, loving the sight of the two of them when he walked back in.

Mother and daughter were doing fine, and so he again asked JJ what they were naming her.

"I think she's a Alexandra Grace. A beautiful name, for a beautiful girl. What do you think?" JJ said to him.

"I think it's perfect. Strong and traditional. Just like you." Dave kissed JJ's free hand. "JJ, do you think we could ask Hotch to be godfather this time? What do you think? I know we haven't discussed this, but I'd like to ask him when he comes in. They're waiting to see you and the little one."

"I think that would be great. I know you two are great friends. And what do you think about asking Emily to be godmother this time? Seems like a fair deal. Of course, Morgan might not be too happy that he's the only one left out." JJ fretted.

"So, we ask him to be an honorary uncle. He'll like that I think."

"Let's do it then, just let me get ready. And let's not be too long, I want to rest." JJ said tiredly.

Dave waited a few minutes, and then let the team into the room. Garcia went wild for the baby, loving the name when JJ told them what it was. Reid tried to stay far back, not wanting to get too close. He still wasn't comfortable around children, despite being Henry's godfather. Emily watched him closely, and wondered how he would feel if it was his own child he was near. He hoped it wouldn't be nearly as awkward as this. She suspected she was pregnant, and had no idea how he'd take the news. She sighed, loving how tiny and precious the little girl looked.

"Hotch, Emily, Dave and I've been talking, and we'd like to ask you to be godparents to Alexandra. Would you?"

Hotch looked shocked, as if this was the last thing he expected. He smiled one of those rare smiles, and accepted, patting Dave on the back. Emily almost burst out crying, pleased to be included. JJ looked at Morgan, seeing his downturned face.

"Derek, we'd like you to be Henry's and Alexandra's honorary uncle. Would you do that for us?" she said sweetly.

Morgan's face lit up at being included, but he tried to hide it. "I'd be glad to, JJ. Thank you."

Dave looked around at his BAU family, and thanked his lucky stars he'd decided to come back to the BAU. After thinking he'd remain alone for the rest of his life, he now had a family and friends, and a life he loved. All this proved to him that he finally had everything, that it had eventually come to him, and he smiled. JJ met his smile, and Dave returned it. He had everything he'd ever wanted, and was glad for that. And he never intended to let it go.


End file.
